The Thing They Call Love
by AmethystDelphini
Summary: Cato's point of view of the Hunger Games. Volunteering is all he's ever dreamed of, but can meeting his district partner change his mind? Rated T for violence, language, and mild romantic themes. Clato.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I don't own the Hunger Games.**

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When I wake up, the sky is still dark. The room comes into shadowy focus. Roughly thirty eighteen-year-old boys lie on bunks with flimsy mattresses. Most are sleeping, some snoring, but others are sitting up, quietly talking or staring at the ceiling. I know why, of course. They are up for the same reason I am awake. Right now, it is six in the morning. The reaping is at eight. In half an hour, we will know who the volunteer is.

I fidget in my bunk and try to pass the time until six thirty. I can't manage to interest myself in the others, so I concentrate on exercise. Not that it really matters any more. I'm either going into the arena in a week or I never will.

I do sit-ups first. One, two, three, all the way to one hundred before I stop. I get up and do push-ups. Those I'm much better at. My record, as is posted on the wall behind me, is five hundred seventy six but I can't stay in one of two positions that long at the moment. After a while I lose count and stop, lying on the bed. I consider seeing if the gym is open so I can bench press but the clock on the wall says six twenty five.

"Cato," says Alfred, a scrawny boy who I could snap like a toothpick but is the best archer in our year. "Who d'you think it'll be?" I'm not one hundred percent sure, but I don't like Alfred and I want to intimidate him.

"Me, of course," I say. Six twenty seven.

"What about the girl?" he asks. I ignore him, but he keeps talking. "I think it'll be Vesta or Tulia." What an idiot. Vesta may be good but the trainers hate her and Tulia's weapon is a mace. There are never maces, except for that one year that was all they had. Some psycho from district eight won that year.

"Or it could be Liv." Does that boy not know how to shut up? I get up, making sure to flex my arm muscle as I grab the ladder. I'm about to go over there and sock him but just then, one of our trainers comes in with an envelope. This is like a second reaping.

"The girl tribute you will be facing is," he says, opening the envelope. "Clove Caverly." Confused whispers echo around the room. I've never heard of her and she's not eighteen. She must be one of the younger girls.

"The boy tribute is," the trainer says. You could hear a pin drop. My chest tenses up, but only for a moment. "Cato Langston." Yes. Yes. Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes! I have waited for so long. This is my year. Whoever this Clove girl is, she's going down.

At seven thirty, I dress in a crisp white shirt and dress slacks. The ever-present gloom that lies over district two has barely shifted today but I feel like it's a bright sunny day. I couldn't be more excited. I know from television that reapings are something to be feared in the other districts but here, you either volunteer or are volunteered for.

I insert my finger into the machine and place my bloody finger on the white square of paper bearing my name. I stare at the blood and imagine that it belongs to a tribute, one who I will face in the games. Maybe it's the bright crimson color or all that it represents but blood has always seemed kind of beautiful to me.

The reaping begins with the mayor reading the list of victors. Faige Bauble, the nauseatingly frilly escort, goes to the girls' ball. She pulls a slip and before I hear more than the first syllable, a voice rings out.

"I volunteer!" I look and see a girl making her way to the stage. My first thought is that she looks, quite honestly, like a little girl. My sister Aelia's age maybe. She's a good foot shorter than me, with silky dark hair pulled up in a high ponytail. And freckles. But when the turns around to face the crowd, I'm struck by the fact that her eyes hold a certain maturity. I mean, my sister is pretty mature for her age, but I sense a kind of power masked by her young features. And really, for a girl her age, she's not bad looking.

"What is your name?" bubbles Faige. This girl must be crazy. It is frowned upon to volunteer in district two without permission, at least if you are in the academy. Even if she wins, she'll be likely be killed by the girl who is supposed to. Plus, she can't be older than fourteen.

"Clove Caverly," she says. That's crazy. This girl is tiny. She must be good if they let her go so young. Then Faige goes to the boys' ball. Her fingers fish around for a while until she selects a name.

"Alfred Feeney." I don't have to do this. I could die.

"I volunteer." Too late now. I mount the stage, the familiar arrogant smile creeping onto my lips. I look up and see the mentors, Enobaria and Brutus, my uncle.

I am in a daze for the rest of the reaping and only rouse myself in time to shake Clove's tiny hand and head to the justice building to say goodbye for now to family and friends.

My mother and sister come in first. They are congratulatory, but not over the top. My mother is nervous, I can tell, but she doesn't say so. Instead she hands me a bag of freshly baked chocolate chip cookies and tells me she'll see me soon. My sister, Aelia, gives me a hug and says she's sure I'll win. She's only thirteen but she understands the danger I may be facing. It's a safe bet to say I am the strongest and most skilled fighter who will be going in, so I tell her yes, I will win, I promise.

The next person to come in is my father. He looks sad, broken even. His shoulders are hunched from years in the quarry and his face resembles Brutus' but older. He and my mother divorced when I was ten.

"Hey," he says and you can hear the distance between us. He had no idea I was even considering volunteering. We sit in silence for a few awkward minutes. Then he holds out something to me.

"Here, take this. I figured you might want a token." It's a medal I won in training a few years ago. I beat all the other boys in my age group in swordplay and overall strength.

"Thanks," I say. It is silent for a few more moments and then the peace keepers tell us it's time to go.

"Make me proud," he says. "You were always just like my brother."

Finally, all of my academy friends show up. Very few of them I genuinely like, but I put up with their excitement. Soon I'll live in the victor's village and all of them will have to do lower class jobs around the district for the rest of their lives.

"It's gonna be so cool," says Ulysses, a big burly kid who's good with spears. "You have to tell us all about the arena. I'm betting you'll get at least ten kills."

"Hopefully," I grin. Ten kills is pretty rare, but I don't see why I couldn't get it. After all, Brutus had nine.

"Cato," Alfred says. "Thanks for volunteering for me. I don't think I was quite ready for the games. But you are. You're gonna win." I'm in such a good mood I respond with equal enthusiasm.

"No problem," I reply, slapping him on the back. "Hey, I'll see you all in a few weeks." I get a few whoops, and then the peacekeepers tell them it's time to clear out. They do so, albeit somewhat reluctantly. After they leave, nobody else comes in so I do more push-ups to pass the time. I don't really have any friends outside of the academy and Livia, the girl I was briefly dating a few days ago, is unlikely to show up. I tend to have short flings with academy girls like her. Watch them beg for my attention, indulge them for a few days, maybe get a few gifts. Then break their hearts. My excuse for her was that a victor should date someone serious, and she wasn't even in the top half of our year. Finally, more peace keepers escort me to a car that will take us to the train station.

Once at the station, there are cameras everywhere. I try to look arrogant, which isn't hard. Clove is beside me and giving a confident smile of her own. Despite her small stature, I see muscle under her short sleeves. Brutus and Enobaria escort us onboard and we wave goodbye to the district. One of us will never see it again.

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**First chapter - and nothing really happened. Keep reading, though, because it does pick up soon. Most of this story is pre-written and I'm just editing before I update, so I'll try to update every day. Hope you enjoyed!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I don't own the Hunger Games.**

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We board the train and I am instantly taken aback by the extravagance. My family was never poor but we never had anything like this. Lush carpets, vibrant wall paper, gold-plated doorknobs, and polished floors are only the start. In each room, there's a food cart lest we ever get the least bit hungry here. I reach over, grab a roll, and stuff it in my mouth. I can see Clove roll her eyes.

"So," she says. "What do we have to do?" She seems bored and not at all nervous about the games ahead of her.

"Well," Brutus speaks up. "You're free until dinner. Most tributes shower. But you've probably had one of those before." I have and Clove is an academy girl so she's surely at least used the ones there. Most people in district two have enough to get by and with so many victors, almost everyone knows someone who has a nice house. Still, I've got nothing else to do.

"I'll be in my room," I say and walk until I find my quarters. The room is lavish. The rug is made of some kind of animal fur and the bed has five layers of blankets. No house in district two, not even Brutus', is this fancy.

I head to the bathroom and step into the shower. Everything is automated but the experience is luxurious. I think I've lost several layers of skin but I feel and smell great. A digital clock tells me it's two, so I wander into the dining car. We're already passing district one. Why the earlier districts have the reapings first I don't know. I sit at the table and load a plate full of this meat dish with tiny little vegetables and fluffy white rolls. The food's great and I am completely oblivious when Clove enters the room. I am only alerted to her presence when she speaks.

"So." Her voice is surprisingly steady.

"So, what?"

"What is your strategy for the games?" She says this like it could not have been more obvious what she was asking.

"Um..." I start. "Look, can we talk about this later?"

"No." For the first time, I notice her eyes. Dark brown and piercing.

"I was sorta eating..." I pick up my fork and knife. Clove moves like lightning. Before I can blink, my knife is stuck straight in the middle of the Capitol seal on the wallpaper. Then, as if to further prove her point, she picks up another knife and hurls it in the same direction. It lands in exactly the same place on the seal below. I have vastly underestimated my district partner.

"How old are you again?" I ask.

"Sixteen," she replies without missing a beat. Sixteen? She barely reaches my shoulder.

"Well," I begin, remembering her original question. "I figured team up with districts one and four, like normal. Then ditch them after the final six. And you too, if you want. Team up with you I mean."

"Sounds fine," she says. "What can you do? What makes you think you've got it in you?"

"I can use a sword." Next to her pinpoint accuracy this suddenly seems not enough. "And I'm strong. Strongest in the academy." She tells me she's fairly agile and can, of course, throw knives. We talk strategy for a while, deciding on our plan for the cornucopia, when we will hunt tributes, and how to guard the supplies we will certainly get. Then the subject of how we will betray our allies comes up.

"Kill them in their sleep, I guess," I say.

"Really? I don't know. It's just so expected. No beauty in that really. No honor."

"Well, what do you propose?"

"We could have them kill a tribute and then get them too when their back is turned." I find myself getting excited.

"Or, we could challenge them to a tournament for practice but then 'accidently' deal fatal wounds." My voice is rising.

"What about we set a trap for them near our camp, then send them looking for food or something."

"There will be a lot of them, though. Maybe sleep is the way to go."

"Or poison," she says thoughtfully. "And what about you?"

"About me?"

"Yes. When will I kill you?" Suddenly it hits me. If I had any choice in the matter, I wouldn't want this girl to die.

"You- you won't. I'm going to be victor."

"Make sure to sneak me some more of this Capitol food in my grave, then." We both laugh for a second, then stop.

"Really though," Clove asks. "When do we split up?"

"Final two. Ensure at least one of us makes it." I don't want to think about how I will kill her right now. I don't know why. I've never had a problem thinking about anyone else dying, even my family. Maybe it's because it's such a real possibility. Besides, she'll make a valuable ally.

Our talk turns to home. I find out her father is a peacekeeper in district eight and her mother works in the quarries. I tell her about my family and soon Brutus and Enobaria enter for dinner.

"So," Brutus says. I'm realizing us district two people tend to assume people know what we're trying to say. "What are your strengths? Weaknesses? Any plans?" This is mostly directed at Clove. He knows me pretty well, him being my uncle and everything.

"I can throw knives," she says, pointing to the two still lodged in the wall.

"Excellent," says Enobaria. "And you?"

"I'm strong. Strongest in the academy. I'm a pretty good hand fighter but my weapon is a sword." She nods. Brutus asks about our plan for the games and I share what Clove and I discussed. Finally, at seven, we watch the replay of the reapings. I make note of the tributes from one and four. They are the usual strong, tough, older ones but I notice the boy from four is a bit shaky when he walks to the stage. Most of the others escape my attention. The girl from five has scarlet hair and looks like she's got a plan. The boy from district eleven is huge, but looks underfed. Finally, district twelve comes up. A little girl is called, a twelve year old. Then, an older girl volunteers. Who in their right mind would volunteer from district twelve? Then she comes up and I learn the girl was her sister. Right. Love and stuff. Some people volunteer for reasons other than glory.

We get to the Capitol at ten, so there's no time to do much of anything but take the elevator to our floor and go to bed. I've been in a few elevators before. One at the justice building last time and a handful of times visiting tall buildings around the city for some reason. Once my mother, who teaches the non-academy kids, took me to her school for a day. In district two, there are six different career paths to choose from. If you don't go to the academy, you either end up in the quarries or as some worker at the few businesses we have that don't have to do with either peacekeeping, stone, or the games. If you do go to academy, you can still end up at the quarries if you're not good. Theoretically, anyone can sign up but pretty much anyone who isn't tribute material has quit at age fourteen or so. If you're in the middle of the road, especially the wannabe archers, you end up in the peacekeeping force. The best of every year are chosen for the games and come home a victor or dead. And if you're second in your year, you get to be a trainer. Since the peacekeepers and victors of our district have most of the wealth, my family wouldn't have much if it weren't for Brutus and the small amount of money I earn for being a good fighter. Mostly tournaments and things. That's part of the reason I have to win. Aelia was in training for a while but dropped out when she was faced with the choice between that and school. She wants to be a teacher, like our mother. But she's smart, I do have to give her that. Not everyone has it in them to compete in the games.

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**Here is chapter 2. He met Clove! I'm trying to strike a balance between moving things forward and keeping it fairly realistic given the circumstances. As always, feedback is welcome. Hope you enjoyed!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: I don't own the Hunger Games.**

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When I wake up, I am brought a tray with some food. Most of it I've tried before, but not to this quality. I make a meal of bacon, rolls, mixed fruits, and hot chocolate. At the academy, we're put on strict diets. This is the first time I can remember when I can eat whatever I want.

After I've eaten, Brutus leads me to the prep building. I mentally groan. The makeover is the part of the games I am least looking forward to. Three freaks - I can't tell if they're even male or female - put me in a bath of some pale foamy goop. They scrub off a few layers of skin, then take me out raw and completely naked. After this, they put some lotion on me and then go to work on my face. Each tiny hair on my face is pulled off on tiny little white strips, which for something so innocent looking certainly know how to cause pain. I distract myself by thinking of the fact that Clove will get this all over her body. Body hair on guys is attractive. On girls, it's the opposite. After this, they do a facial scrub and put a little bit of makeup on to enhance my scars. I don't like makeup but this is alright. I need to look tough to get sponsors and unfortunately I don't scar very easily. The last step of my remaking is to wash my hair, blow dry it, and style it with gel.

When my stylist comes in, I know I'm in trouble. I can tell she's a girl and can't take her eyes off my body. Normally I'd be flattered but I'd rather not be presented naked to the audience. I also notice that when she invites me to have a chat, it's me who suggests I put my thin robe back on.

Lunch is delicious. It's a burger, with some lighter meat instead of beef. It's covered in this dark, salty sauce and on top are carrots and onions that have been bathed in the same stuff. On the side I get a salad of some unfamiliar greens.

"It's Asian," says Rosamund, my stylist. "There were other countries before the dark days, though all of them had their own revolutions as well. Asia was a group of countries actually, but it's all districts now. They have many more than us though."

"So, what am I wearing?" I ask, because I don't really care about Asia or its food. Nor do I get the feeling this is something I am supposed to hear. Other countries? With districts? Do they have the hunger games too?

"Well," she says. "We wanted to focus on the strength of your district. We decided to go with a roman theme."

I bite my tongue before I can ask about what roman means but she informs me anyway. Rosamund, it seems, has an endless interest in the dull history of whatever was before Panem.

"Rome," she continues, "Is a very old country. In the early days of civilization, a country in another place called Europe began forming an empire. They were defeated eventually of course, but they had a tradition of sending soldiers, or gladiators, into this arena to fight."

She must see the look of boredom on my face, so she switches topics to what we will be wearing.

"These gladiators wore fine costumes of silver and gold. That's what you'll be in tonight. Sound okay?"

"Sounds fine," I answer with contempt. I'm not in the mood for another history lesson any time soon.

In an hour, I am dressed in my costume and ready to go. Clove comes up next to me. I must say, she looks rather striking in this getup. She's dressed in the same thing as me, but she's got a full helmet and the shape of her chest piece is a bit thinner and curvier. We get into the chariot, eyes locked ahead. Our instruction is not to move, speak, or acknowledge the Capitol audience in any way. The music begins and out of the corner of my eye, I see the district one tributes. The pretty girl with the wavy blond hair and green eyes is getting a lot of attention but her district partner doesn't seem as popular dressed in pink and trying to look indifferent. Our chariot begins to roll forward. I catch glimpses of us on the screens. The Capitol seems to be splitting most of the screen time between us and one. Nobody else really stands out. Until I look up at the screen and see the district twelve tributes. They are on fire. Not burning, but unmistakably ablaze. I can't help but look behind me. There they are, and they're getting all the attention. I try to remain calm but when the camera cuts to us briefly, I can see ill-disguised fury in my own eyes. Not Clove's though. Either she doesn't know what this means for us or she's better at hiding her anger than I am. Probably the latter.

President Snow gives his annual speech about the history of panem, but even the tributes are fixated on district twelve. I catch myself glancing at them a few times. The chariot ride happens at dusk, so they are impossible to miss. Then we turn around and head back into the building. I spot the district twelve girl staring at me and instantly name her Fire Girl in my head. I glare at her.

I barely make it to the second level before I lose it. I storm to my room and kick the wall so hard it leaves a dent. Then I smash the lamp by the bed. I ruin bed sheets and destroy artwork. Who cares? The Capitol doesn't, that's for sure. They can easily replace all of this. They only care about stupid district twelve. They have stolen our glory. Just wait until training. I bet they won't be shining when I outscore them both. Slowly, I begin to calm down. Yes, they took the chariot rides from us but they are likely not good fighters. I will still win the games and I shouldn't even need too many sponsors. I'll have the supplies I need from the cornucopia anyway. I aim one last kick at the door and go to dinner.

Dinner is uneventful. We eat a flat bread covered in red sauce and various toppings. Pizza, Brutus calls it. At eight, we watch the recap of the chariot rides. We do look good. I watch us as we round the corner, and catch the moment of surprise on my face. Then, when it cuts back to us, I seem to be smoldering with anger. Clove doesn't even blink. Seeing district twelve again sends a fresh wave of rage into me.

"Don't you care?" I scream at the room. "Don't you care at all?"

"Of course we care," says Enobaria. "But not all of us throw tantrums whenever _wittle distwict twelve_ does something halfway decent. Wait until training. It'll be fine." Her indifference infuriates me.

"Clove?" I continue. "What about you? You and I are the ones who will suffer!"

"I know that, Cato," she says patiently. "But it won't help you to get all angry. Sponsors won't like it if you lose it every time you see everyone's favorite tributes." She's got a point there. I may as well not ruin what little attention we have. I go silent and the rest of our party changes the topic to training. I fume for a bit longer, but then join in the conversation.

"In the morning, stick with your weapons. Meet the one and four tributes. Ally with anyone else you want to, but be selective," Enobaria says. "In the afternoon, try a few new things. Knife skills. Hand to hand combat. Trapping."

"Remember," adds Brutus. "You need to command respect. If all the poor starving tributes weren't so afraid of us, district two would never have another victor. We'd be swarmed. It's all about what people think of you." This shouldn't be hard at all. Everyone fears me at the academy. This is just taking it a step further.

"Get some rest," says Isaac, Clove's stylist. I nod and go off to bed, Clove right behind me.

"Don't worry about district twelve," she says. "We can take them easily." I bid her goodnight and we head to our rooms.

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**Again, not a super eventful chapter, but something. Next one is training. And Katniss was introduced! Not by name, but still. As always, feedback is welcome and hope you enjoyed.**

**April 19: I am currently experiencing some technical difficulties with posting new documents and am therefore unable to update at the moment. I will post the next chapter as soon as I have sorted this out.**


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: I don't own the Hunger Games.**

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I wake bright and early for training, take a quick shower, and get dressed in the clothes that have been laid out by my bed. They're pretty similar to my training outfit back home, except for the two each shoulder. Everything fits perfectly and I wonder how exactly the Capitol got my measurements. Surely they didn't measure me while I slept. The thought unnerves me on several different levels.

I go to breakfast and find that Clove is already there, hair flawless and sipping from a cup of coffee. Faige Bauble passes me a second cup and I drink it, glad for the extra boost. I help myself to pancakes and sausage before Faige leads us to the elevator for training.

When I enter the room, I can't help but stare. There are rows and rows of the most beautiful weapons I've ever seen. Spears that seem almost as long as I am tall. Swords that gleam. I see Clove's got her eye on the display of knives in the far corner of the room. I tear myself away from the weapons and look at the other tributes. About half of them are already there, from districts three, four, seven, eight, nine, and eleven. My eyes lock on the district eleven boy I noticed at the reapings. Up close, he looks even bigger. As long as he's not completely incompetent, I'll ask him about an alliance.

The rest of the tributes arrive. Twelve comes last, dressed alike. I smirk at Clove and send a glare in Fire Girl's direction. Surprisingly, she returns it with equal ferocity.

When we are released, Clove and I gather the district one and four tributes.

"So," I say. "Tell me a bit about yourselves. Names, weapons, plans for the games. I'm Cato, district two. I use a sword, but I can throw spears and do hand to hand combat."

"Clove, district two. I throw knives."

"I'm Glimmer," says the pretty blonde. I notice her emerald green eyes almost at once. She flashes a flirty smile in my direction. "From district one. My weapon of choice is a bow."

"Marvel," says the slimmer boy. "Also district one. Spear throwing." We'll see about that won't we.

"I'm Nixie. District four. Um, knives as well." She looks familiar and then I remember that her sister was in the games a few years ago. I don't remember her name. She's famous, but only for dying. She was perfectly strong and fast, but not particularly smart. That year, the district three girl tricked the careers into letting her into the alliance. At the reaping, she was called and then pretended she had been planning to volunteer all along. The first night, she drugged them all with sleep syrup and slit their throats with her sword. She went on to win the games, as there were only seven left at that point and she was already one of the best fighters. She is still known for being one of the most relentless victors ever to win. They say it destroyed her to do it. The thought makes me look warily around at the others. I don't think any of them would betray me, especially Nixie. Not after what happened.

"Adrian," says the district four boy. "I use a trident." He doesn't seem like much competition. He's almost as small as Clove and has a lisp that makes him seem like a child. Still, I shouldn't underestimate him, I think as I again remember that girl from district three.

We separate to our respective weapons. I glance around at the others. Fire girl and the boy from her district are tying knots but the boy from six is over at the sword station. A smirk forms on my lips as I see him trying so hard to hit the dummy. I head to the weapons rack and pick out the longest sword. I get a feel for it, then twirl it through my fingers and head to a set of dummies. In a few seconds, they are all dead - decapitated, split, or stabbed through the heart.

At lunch, we pull some tables together, talking and laughing about who to kill. Afterwards, Clove tells the others about what Enobaria said. Marvel decides to go to knot tying, the district four tributes make fish hooks, Clove does edible plants, and Glimmer and I go to knives. She's flirty, and I'll admit, she's pretty damn beautiful. Not exactly a genius though. I learn that not five minutes into our session, when she starts talking about her district token.

"Cato, want to see my ring?" Glimmer asks me, leaning against the rack of knives and batting her eyelashes at me.

"Sure," I reply shortly. Normally I'd be up for flirting, but I don't want to get attached to anyone where we're going. Glimmer holds out her perfectly manicured hand, revealing a golden ring with an oversized pink gem in the center.

"It's my district token," she says. Then she looks over at our instructor, who is helping the girl from district nine with her aim.

"Can you keep a secret?" she whispers, her lips just inches from my ear.

"Uh, yeah," I say distractedly. I can feel the eyes watching us from across the room. I turn and see Clove staring at me, her jaw set in an icy frown.

"Watch this," Glimmer says. She makes as if to touch the gem, then stops her hand centimeters from making contact with it.

"I shouldn't."

"You don't have to," I say, bored of her stupid antics. She's getting on my nerves.

"No, I'll tell you," she says. "Just promise not to tell a soul." She is so close to me I can smell her floral perfume.

"I promise," I reply, forcing a smile. Unfortunately, she seems to take it as an encouragement. She twists the gem on her ring counterclockwise and an inch-long spike pops out, coated in a blue substance.

"Poison," whispers Glimmer. "You know, just in case I get in a sticky situation."

"You probably shouldn't show me that with the gamemakers around," I remind her. "I doubt they'd allow it."

"You're right," she agrees. "I should follow the rules." With another twist of her ring, the spike disappears.

"So what's your token?" she asks. I look over my shoulder again, into Clove's reproachful brown eyes staring at me from the edible plants station. Her gaze seems to say, _"Really? Her? In the arena?"_ Suddenly I feel defensive.

"A medal," I reply quickly. "But remember, we're here to train. I'm going to throw again." I look past Glimmer's look of faked disappointment just in time to see the brown eyes flit away from me and look back down at the plants.

We regroup with half an hour to go. Marvel demonstrates a useful net trap he learned and I show off my new knife throwing skills to Clove. She's seemed rather sullen all day and she glares at Glimmer when she gives a breathy laugh at something I say. Tiredly, Clove corrects my grip and demonstrates her own perfect throw.

I tell the others about Thresh and we agree to invite him. Nixie and Adrian hang back but Marvel, Glimmer, and Clove come along.

"I'm Cato," I say. "This is Clove, Marvel, and Glimmer. We want to make an alliance with the district four tributes. You seem strong. Want to be part of it?" Pretty darn to the point, but I've noticed he isn't particularly talkative.

"No," he says simply. I'm a bit surprised. Usually us careers get people begging to join up.

"Come on," Clove says. "You'll get a lot further if we team up." She makes a good point, but he's not budging.

"No." I nudge Glimmer forward, hoping she can use the beauty approach. Clove is already scowling.

"Don't you want to join us?" she asks, giving her signature stunning smile.

"No!" he says more forcefully and heads off to throw spears.

"Fine," I say, determined to have the last word. "We don't need you. We'll hunt you down." We will now, anyway.

The next two days pass in much the same manner. We train with our weapons and discuss the games. I've noticed Clove has not improved her attitude about Glimmer one bit. If I didn't know better, I'd say she was jealous. But what of?

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**Sorry for the wait on that chapter. My account wasn't letting me post anything new. Anyway, I won't be trying to do a love triangle, because I don't like Glimmer/Cato. I hope I made it clear he wasn't very interested in her. Also, I wrote a story a few years ago about the games Nixie's sister was in. I'm currently deciding whether or not to re-write it, as the main character ended up as a total Mary Sue. Hope you enjoyed!**


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer: I don't own the Hunger Games.**

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On the final day of training, we have our private sessions. When the gamemakers call my name, I throw one last arrogant smile at my competitors and then enter the training room. Every station is empty, seemingly untouched, awaiting my demonstration. I've had this planned out since I was twelve years old.

"Please state your name," orders one of the gamemakers. I look up and see all of them with their eyes trained on me. Perfect. I have their attention.

"Cato Langston," I say, then walk quickly to the sword station. I select the blade I've used every day, and start by quickly taking down a set of dummies. The gamemakers are nodding, but don't seem too impressed. I go to the next set, even adding some hand switches and breaking the neck of the last one. I'm getting some definite approval, but I know it won't be enough. I need at least a ten for my strategy to have any weight.

A panel off to the side catches my eye and I look closer. My heart soars. It's a combat simulator, with fully customizable settings and five difficulty levels. I select a random assortment of different fighters on level five, and pray I haven't overestimated myself.

The room goes dark, and a bright yellow projection appears, armed with a mace. I quickly stab it in the chest before the weapon can be swung, then turn to face an archer who has appeared on a raised platform. I dodge the first arrow, deflect the second off my blade, and manage to catch the projection in the neck. No sooner has it exploded into small yellow boxes than another swordsman is upon me. Our blades clash in a shower of those yellow sparks, and I just manage to duck what would be a fatal blow. I kick out, sending its blade clattering to the ground, and stab downward into its stomach. I can practically see the blood, feel the whoosh of air as a spear flies over my head. They may as well be actual tributes, because that's how real it feels. I decapitate the spear thrower in one swing, and quickly turn to face my final opponent. Two knives fly from its hand; one I manage to avoid but the other soars into my lower leg. I curse myself for my mistake, and lunge at the projection, still feeling the burning of the wound that isn't actually there. Another knife comes flying, and I raise my sword, deflecting it back at the projection. It catches it in the neck and explodes with yellow light.

Just then, the lights come back on and the spell is broken. I look down at my leg to see it, of course, unscathed.

"You may go," the gamemaker says. I look at them, and am pleased to see what looks very much like admiration on many of their faces. Then I turn and leave the room.

Thanks to the speed of the Capitol elevators, I reach the district two floor in a matter of seconds. Brutus and Enobaria aren't there, so I order some food and turn on the TV. Right now, it's just airing commercials, the mindlessly ridiculous beauty products used by the Capitol. The mandatory programming will be later, when the training scores are announced. Judging by my performance, I'm guessing I got between a nine and an eleven. My fighting was as good as ever, though I did slip up once at the end. As long as I get in the double digits, though, I'm essentially guaranteed the high score.

Clove comes up fifteen minutes later. She plops down beside me and we watch in silence. By the smile on her face, probably the most genuine one I've ever seen her wear, she's also done well. I don't ask, though. Ever since my conversation with Glimmer, Clove has been making a point of ignoring me. Eventually, we are joined by our mentors, stylists, and Faige. I barely pick at dinner, as delicious as it is. Partially because I ate before, but partially because I'm so nervous. I don't let it show, of course, but I'm just worried my mistake has cost me.

At eight, we head back to the main room to watch the training scores. Caesar Flickerman introduces the program, which seems to take years, and then begins with district one. Marvel gets a nine and Glimmer an eight. Respectable scores, but nothing amazing. I hold my breath and my face comes up with a ten. I sigh in relief. At this point, I've secured plenty of sponsors. Clove's follows, also with a ten. I can't help feeling a bit of jealousy. I was hoping for the sole high score. Still, it's not like she didn't deserve it. District three I ignore; they're both weaklings. Nixie gets another nine and Adrian an eight. The rest of the scores are low, though the district eleven boy, Thresh, gets a ten as well. I make a mental note to target him as soon as I get into the arena. Refusing our alliance was one thing, but tying me for the top training score ensures his death. Surprisingly, the district twelve boy gets an eight. It must have been brute strength, because I can't remember him demonstrating much skill with weaponry. He looked well-fed enough in training but didn't command much attention. Then Fire Girl's face comes up. I'm thinking that it would be just like her to do well here when I see the number eleven.

A roar escapes my lips. I slam the television with all my might, causing it to shudder and go black. How could she outscore me? I was supposed to be the strongest, the best fighter. I want to kill her, but I satisfy myself by smashing the dishes from dessert to pieces. Next to me, Clove is swearing her head off. The calm facade she's kept up so far is finally broken but I'm too furious to care. Eleven. Eleven! Fire Girl will die at my hands, slowly and painfully. I will never rest now until it is done.

Hands pull me down to the couch. Enobaria holds me still until I stop struggling. She's strong and with Brutus's aid, she easily overpowers me.

"You need to stop this," she says dangerously. "You can't lose your head every time something doesn't go your way. Now calm the fuck down." With that, she slaps me hard across the face. I leave the room still fuming.

Once in my bedroom, my reaction does seem extreme. I can't afford to lose it like that again. She's right; I won't get anywhere by destroying random household objects. Fire Girl though... her death will be something special. With that thought in my head, I drift off to sleep. I wake to screaming.

* * *

**Cliffhanger, sorry. That chapter was a bit shorter than my other ones but, for obvious reasons, I wanted to end it off here. But yeah. Private sessions. Not the most interesting chapter, but hopefully the next one will make up for it. Hope you enjoyed!**


	6. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer: I don't own the Hunger Games.**

**(If you want, turn on Daylight by Maroon 5)**

* * *

I sit bolt upright and wait, frozen, for another sound. Was I dreaming? It's possible, but it doesn't seem likely. I listen intently, but all I can hear is my own breathing. I've just about convinced myself I imagined the whole thing when I hear it again. A terrified scream, coming from somewhere down the hall. Without thinking, I get up and slip out of my room. It takes me a moment to locate the source of the noise, and when I do I stop short. Clove's room. I can't go in there. And anyway, the thought that someone as vicious and fearless as her could sound so scared makes no sense. Maybe I'll just go back to bed. But there it is again. The anguish, the horror in her voice is unmistakable. Before I can consider it any further, I open the door and tiptoe inside. Clove lies on her bed, entangled in blankets, shaking.

I put my hand on her head and it comes away coated in her sweat. I can tell she's dreaming something awful.

"No, no!" she yells. Her shirt is slightly lifted and a long scar across her stomach shows. I impulsively lay down beside her and wrap her in my arms. She screams again, a wordless cry, and I hold tighter. Somehow, I don't like seeing her like this. At all. It feels wrong, like someone so strong shouldn't be able to look so weak. And something else, something I can't quite put a name to. I don't want her to be in pain. Beside me, Clove gives one final panicked shout and then is silent.

I don't know what to do now. Clove would kill me if she knew I was here. But she sounded so helpless. Still, I don't want to be here when she wakes up. I know it would somehow sever whatever bond of friendship we have formed. Plus, there are other people to take care of her, right? I have just resolved to go back to bed when her body starts shaking again. I hope it will pass, but when she cries out again I know I can't go anywhere. I tuck the damp strands of hair back behind her ear and nestle her head in the crook of my arm. The screaming subsides more quickly this time. I don't think I have ever held anyone like this, not even Aelia. I do not consider myself a loving person. But there is something about Clove right now and how very helpless she seems that makes it impossible for me to leave.

The night wears on. Clove sleeps beside me. She never wakes, but every ten minutes or so she starts shaking again. I know there must be horrors in her past for her to scream like this. However, the screams get less frequent. There is no question of leaving now. I stay up all night like this, holding my district partner to keep whatever haunts her dreams away.

At dawn, I plant a quick kiss on Clove's cheek and head back to my room. Today we will be preparing for the interviews. Since she and I are being coached together, we're meeting in the main room at seven. It's six thirty now, so I order a cup of coffee to block the fatigue that is setting in from staying up all night. **(Turn off Daylight)**

At seven, Brutus and Enobaria come in.

"Would you get Clove?" asks Enobaria.

"Sure," I reply, unsure of how it will feel to see her again. I enter her room and, after a quiet knock meets no answer, softly nudge her. Her eyes open at once and I can see she remembers the nightmares. She's deathly pale, but as fiery as ever.

"Today," says Brutus, once we are all fed and ready to discuss strategy, "we'll coach you for your interviews. But first, Faige has to teach you about how to present yourselves. Physically, I mean."

Faige has me dress in a suit and Clove in a long dress to practice walking in dress wear. I get it pretty quickly as the suit is not so different from everyday clothes but my district partner keeps tripping over her high heels. I laugh and she shoots daggers with her eyes. I need to remember she's not helpless just because she had a few nightmares.

Once Clove has mastered walking in her outfit, we have to sit. This she gets right away but apparently I have some major posture problems. I am forced to spend many minutes straightening my back, even though I'm sure I'll be told to slouch for my strategy. It's really quite stupid, how they dress us up and make us please the Capitol. If it were up to me, I'd get straight to the games.

After sitting, we have tone of voice which we're both good at and smiling which we're both terrible at. Clove, it seems, is incapable of smiling without smirking and, judging by the expression on Faige's face, I'm no better. Eventually, we finish our presentation session and head to lunch.

"I'm thinking deadly and confident for both of you," says Enobaria. We are now planning our content for the interviews. "But for Cato, I want more of an ego. Completely sure you're going to win. Clove, you should go for more clever and wicked. You know what I mean?" I nod. I still wish we didn't have to do this, but I don't have a choice and my mentors have made it clear losing my temper won't get me anywhere.

"Let's do some Q and A," Brutus suggests. "I'll stop you if you're doing something wrong." He explains he'll ask a question and then Clove and I will both answer, in order to make sure our angles aren't too similar.

"So," he says, adopting a mocking version of Caesar Flickerman's voice. "How do you feel about the games?"

"I'm ready," I say. "I've worked towards this my whole life. I'm the best fighter here. Nobody can mess this up for me."

"Good," purrs Enobaria. "Even more confidence. Clove?"

"There's a reason I was picked for the games. I have all the skills I need to win this thing. I can't wait." This continues until dinner, by which time we have both perfected our angles. Tomorrow at five, we will have our actual interviews. Less than a day after that, we'll be in the arena. I can't wait.

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**Well... that was a little random, I have to admit. But it will be important later, trust me. The first steps to romance! Hope you enjoyed!**


	7. Chapter 7

**Disclaimer: I don't own the Hunger Games.**

* * *

I head to bed early, but wake up in the middle of the night. I don't know what woke me. I go into Clove's room to make sure she's OK. She's shivering a little, but quiet. I leave her a glass of water and go back to my own room. I pace circles around the bed, too restless to sleep. Finally, I just do my training exercises until I'm worn out enough to rest. At some point, I drift off.

I am roused early in the morning to begin prep for my interviews. I literally get to choke down a quick breakfast and then have to spend the rest of the day on a table getting made over. It's not so bad at first, just baths of different things and something to make my hair smooth before they reshape it. However, when they start on my face, I realize I'm not going to get off easy. They powder my face to give me "a more uniform skin color". They pluck my eyebrows to give them better shape.

"What are you doing?" I ask at one point when I feel something going dangerously near my eye.

"Oh, we're just enhancing the natural color of your eyes. They're your best feature you know." replies one of the freaks. I have been told this, mostly by admiring girls. But if they are putting eyeliner on me I will kill Rosamund. I could too. Just wait until we're alone before the tribute launch and break her neck. I'd do it right before I got in the tube so they wouldn't have time to arrest me or anything.

"Give me a mirror," I demand. They do and it's not as bad as I thought. From this close, you can tell it's not my natural face but from afar, I'm guessing it'll look just fine. As for the eyeliner, it's just a shade darker than my normal skin color and actually does enhance my eyes. Plus, something has erased the dark circles under my eyes that have formed from my lack of sleep the last two nights. I don't say anything though, not willing to give them that satisfaction.

At four thirty, Rosamund comes in with a suit. It's not particularly special really but I put it on and hope whatever comes out of my mouth can compensate. You can bet that Fire Girl will be wearing more flames tonight.

Soon it's time to go so I find my way down a set of hallways and line up with the other tributes. Most of them look terrified and Glimmer, Marvel, Clove, Adrian, Nixie and I flaunt the fact that we don't have anything to be scared of. Actually, I'm a bit nervous. My appeal to the crowd lies in my skill. Take that out of the equation and who knows what they'll think of me. And now a ten in training is not at all extraordinary because _somebody_ scored an eleven.

Glimmer goes first. She's going for sexy and the audience is eating it up. Her see-through gold dress is capturing the attention of many of the men in the crowd. I find myself staring at the screen we get to watch on more than a few times, only stopped by Clove's constant glares. When Caesar asks her if she has a district token, she laughs and says that apparently, something was wrong with her ring and somebody had put a hidden spike in it. Without her knowledge, of course. I roll my eyes; she must have known the gamemakers wouldn't let it through. Anyone could tell she's lying, but Caesar brushes it off and moves on. Next comes Marvel. He's funny and gets a few good laughs from the crowd but really isn't that great. Clove goes and I can see her angle coming to life on the stage. She even uses that line she used in practice, about how she feels about the games.

When my name is called, I make my way up to the stage. Caesar introduces me and I sit in a chair.

"So, Cato," he says. "How do you feel about the upcoming games?" I try to remember what I said in practice but I honestly can't remember my own name right now so I just make something up.

"I'm going to win," I say. "I'm prepared, I'm vicious - I'm ready to go." I vaguely hear clapping in the background and relax. So they do like me. It'll be fine.

"Yes, a ten, what a training score that is." Caesar continues. "Going to give us any hints about what happened in there?"

"Well, all I can say is I think it might have had something to do with this," I answer, flexing my arm. Girls scream and I think Rosamund is among them.

"Yes, yes. Well, we all know you volunteered at the reaping. Do you have any family back home?"

"Yup," I reply. "My mom, dad, sister Aelia, and Brutus, my mentor, is my uncle as well."

"Oh, fantastic. And I think we are all quite sure you will be following in his footsteps. What about your sister? Will she be joining us in the games?"

"Nah," I say. "She wants to be a teacher." I roll my eyes. I hope that Aelia is not hurt. She knows I am fine with the fact that she doesn't want to train. I am the one who is bringing glory to the family. The audience laughs and I wish I could tell her I'm not trying to make fun of her.

"What about girls? Any special girls? With a body like that I'd be surprised if you didn't have quite a few admirers."

I think of Clove, but quickly dismiss the thought. I don't like her. At least, not in that way, right?

"No girls," I say. "Not that I couldn't have my pick of them. I'm going to wait until I win and can have any girl in the district. Then I'll decide."

"Now, Cato," says Caesar. "Your time is almost up, but tell us. Do you have a plan for the games?"

"Well, I'm allied with districts one and four, as well as Clove who you all saw a second ago." Clove's name brings on more cheers. "I think we're all going to weed out some of the - er- less interesting competition. Then the real fun will start." Huge applause, then I'm dismissed to watch the rest of the interviews in the training center.

Clove is already on the couch when I get there, watching the girl from district three squirm under the spotlights.

"Was that true?" she asks me.

"Was what true?"

"About you," she says. "Not having a girlfriend."

"Yes, it was true, why?" I ask.

"Just curious," she says innocently. "Does _Glimmer _know that?"

"She does now," I say. "And for your information, there is nothing between Glimmer and me. She's just flirty." She nods and we watch the rest of the interviews in peace. Could I have been wrong? Is she jealous of Glimmer? It does sound like that but Clove hasn't exactly made an effort to appeal to me as anything more than a friend.

The interviews are interesting enough. Most of the tributes aren't very good with the crowd, though there are a few that have some talent for being onstage. Thresh, from district eleven, is pretty popular with his sullen and hostile approach. Mostly Clove and I make fun of the others, but I shush her because it's time for Fire Girl's interview. She is wearing flames and she does this nauseating thing spinning around and giggling but it's pretty clear she's not comfortable here. Really, the only thing the audience reacts to is when she says that she told her little sister she would try really hard to win. Her district partner however, is a different story.

He and Caesar seem to have been practicing. They have the same sense of humor and the audience is going crazy laughing. Then, Caesar asks the same question he asked me. About having a special girl back home.

"Probably not," Clove laughs.

"Well, there is this one girl," he says. "I've had a crush on her ever since I can remember. But I'm pretty sure she didn't know I exist until the reaping."

"Well, here's what you do," says Caesar. "You win, you go home. She can't turn you down then!"

"I don't think that'll work. Winning won't help in my case."

"Why ever not?" asks Caesar. I see it a second before he says it. I want to lunge forward and stop the words but I can't.

"Because she came here with me." In a second, both Clove and I are on our feet. She's screaming at the blank screen while I am trying my best to destroy everything in this room in the hopes that somehow Lover Boy will pay. Stupid district twelve with their stupid tributes on fire. Clove calms down quickly and grabs me by the arm.

"Don't let Enobaria see you doing that again," she warns. "Remember, in the arena, those things will be real people. You could kill our whole alliance in a fit of anger and then where would we be? If I didn't know any better I'd say you were scared of them."

"Scared?" I shoot back. "Why would I be scared? Sure she got an eleven. I can take her any day."

"Yes, scared," her voice is rising. "Every time they do something decent you're smashing up whatever room you're in. I bet you think if she gets enough sponsors she can beat you!"

"Well it's not like you're completely fearless either," I shout. That stops her short.

"What the hell are you talking about?"

"Two nights ago." I reply. "Screaming all night." I mimic her. "No, no!" This isn't fair and we both know it. I want to take it back but it's too late. I can't tell her that that night I stayed with her to try to get her to stop screaming. She looks at me, so betrayed, like I've crossed some line. I know I have.

"Look," I say in a more reasonable tone. "I was just worried about you. That wasn't fair."

"You're right. That wasn't fair. So don't you ever bring that up again," she says dangerously.

"See you tomorrow," I say tiredly.

"Tomorrow," she replies.

I get to my room and lie on the bed, defeated. I really screwed up now and if some part of me ever wanted her to like me, she never will. Brutus, Enobaria, and Faige come in. They explain that this is the part where they say goodbye because there's a chance I won't see them again.

"Of course I'll see you again," I say. But when nobody is looking I tell Brutus to give my token back to my father if something happens. Not that it will, of course.

Once alone, I realize I'll never fall asleep. I'm too excited, and maybe a little nervous I guess. There is no doubt in my mind that I can win the games, but I do wonder how it will play out. I hope I don't have to kill Clove. I don't even know if I could.

That opens another door of things keeping me awake. Clove. There are so many conflicting emotions that arise when I think of her. Worry about her nightmares and her safety in the arena. Anger at her coldness and jealousy of Glimmer. Wanting to keep what friendship we have. Knowing that she is just as good a fighter as me. And now I think there is some amount of attraction there too.

I try to exercise because that helped me fall asleep last time but it doesn't work. I can't even lie down. I wonder if anyone in this training center will be sleeping tonight.

* * *

**I made this one a little longer, to hopefully make up for the last one being a bit short. You know, sometimes as a writer, you just love your main character. Other times, not so much. So let's all just take a moment to slap Cato really hard. He deserves it. Hope you enjoyed!**


	8. Chapter 8

**Disclaimer: I don't own the Hunger Games.**

* * *

In the morning, Rosamund leads me to the roof and then to a hovercraft. I accept breakfast. Now that the games are imminent, I'm getting excited again. Soon, blood will be spilled. People will die. How long I have waited for this morning.

In the launch room, I dress in long sweat pants, a plain shirt, an insulated jacket, and supple boots made for running. I haven't given much thought to which arena I will be in. I just hope it's not completely frozen.

"See you soon, Cato," says Rosamund.

"See ya," I say. I give her a smirk to show I'm somewhat grateful for what she's done. The tube begins to rise under my feet and I straighten my shoulders. There's a few seconds of darkness, and then light.

I look around and see our arena in all its glory. Across the cornucopia is a lake and I think immediately of making camp there. Behind me and to the right is a thickly wooded forest. To my left is a cliff and if I crane my neck, I can see tall grasses beyond it. In the center is the cornucopia and the items of lower value have been spread around it. Right next to me I see an empty water bottle, but the real treasure lies in the mouth. Food, water, tents, extra clothing. And weapons, glinting in the artificial sun. My eyes lock on a sword and I know it has to be my first priority. I'm willing to sacrifice some of the other supplies in exchange for the maximum number of kills right now. This moment, this morning, will change everything.

The gong rings out and I sprint for the sword. Before I can even reach it, the girl from district seven runs into my path. I grab her and twist her neck around, a maneuver I learned in training several years ago. She falls instantly, and I feel my heart rate picking up as I continue sprinting for my weapon. At last, my hand closes around the familiarly cold metal. Now that I'm armed, I take a moment to look around. Glimmer is struggling with the district five boy for a bow. Marvel is taking out the girl from district ten. Clove has thrown a knife into the back of the district nine boy and is targeting Fire Girl. Nixie appears to be killing the district three girl. Probably thinks of it as revenge. Adrian is nowhere to be found. I whip around and slash the first tribute I see - the district eight boy. He goes down easily and I look for more targets. Thresh is to my right, wielding a large sickle, and Adrian is dropping at his feet. I consider going after him but I'd rather take him as a group. We're already down one person. The bloodbath is almost over now. Most of the tributes are either lying dead on the ground or have taken off. I do spot the boy from district six, so I run after him, catch him in a headlock, and slit his throat. No other victims present themselves so I turn back to the cornucopia to help sort the supplies.

As I'm heading to the lake, I catch a glimpse of movement behind me. I turn and see two other tributes standing by the cornucopia, not fighting each other but looking at each other warily. I scoff at their weakness, but it's just too more kills for me. I'm unsheathing my sword again when I recognize on the of the tributes. It's Lover Boy. My face breaks into a grin. Maybe not as good as catching his girlfriend, but I think he'll suffice for the time being. The other boy, I think from three, is literally quaking as I approach them. I'm just turning my blade on Lover Boy when he speaks.

"Don't kill me," Lover Boy says. "I can help you. I know you're looking for Katniss." I consider him. Yes, he could be lying, but Fire Girl is our top priority. Plus, he could be useful. He did score an eight in training.

"How do I know you won't betray me?" I ask finally.

"What would be the point?" he shrugs. "She's our biggest competitor, and it'll be nice to have her out of the way. And it's six against one, so if I wanted you dead I'd just wait it out." I try to find something wrong with his argument, but nothing comes to mind.

"But don't you love her? Fire Girl? You seemed all over her in your interview," I argue.

"An act," he states nonchalantly. "You know, for sponsors. But I figure they've made their deals by now."

"Fine," I say. "But don't try anything funny." I turn to the district three boy. "You, however..."

"I- I- I can help you," he stammers.

"How?" I ask, seriously doubtful. I do listen though, because if a district twelve tribute of all people can help us, maybe he can too.

"The m-mines. I can reactivate them. Protect your s-supplies." I think about it. While he's not a fighter, the protection of our supplies could prove invaluable. I've heard it for years in training - whatever you do, don't leave your supplies unguarded. It's a ticket to starvation. Plus, we can just kill him off if need be. What's that saying? Keep your friends close and your enemies closer.

"Sure. But the same goes for you. One false move and you're dead." He swallows hard and nods.

I go back and tell the others about our allies. Not everyone is happy about it, and Nixie in particular doesn't want the boy from three, but I convince them it'll be useful. We've already lost Adrian and that way our pack will at least have six fighters, since I'm not counting the boy from three.

We pile everything up in a pyramid near the lake and then tally the deaths. Our little group killed the girl from three, the boy from five, both from six, and seven, the boy from eight, both from nine, and the girl from ten. Nobody mentions Adrian. I guess I should feel something after killing three people but I have been hardened against that for a long time. In district two, as part of your training, you have to kill one person every year who has been sentenced to death. I remember my first kill. I was just twelve and still pretty innocent. I'd wounded people in training before in fits of anger but this, I knew, would be different. When they brought me my victim, my heart almost stopped. She was an old woman who had been punished for trying to hide a girl from the reaping. I think somebody else got the little girl as well. I looked at her and knew in my heart she was a better person than I would ever be. But the trainers were watching, so I grabbed a spear and threw it into her chest. Even then I hit her heart on the first try. But I had nightmares for weeks and almost quit the academy. But every year, it hurt a little less until I didn't care at all.

Glimmer and Marvel gather some firewood and we make a bonfire. It's not yet night and we've resolved to go hunting for the others after the anthem. We heat water over the fire and toss in freeze-dried meat and vegetables. While our stew is cooking, we talk about our lives back home.

"Your sister was in the games, wasn't she Nixie?" Marvel asks.

"Yes," Nixie says. "Nerida. She would've won, too."

"What happened?" asks Glimmer.

"That was the Ada Lotus year," Nixie replies.

"Ada Lotus?" asks Lover Boy. He obviously doesn't follow the games as closely as I do.

"Yes," says Nixie. "That girl from district three a few years back. She was reaped, but then made like she was going to volunteer anyway. She teamed up with the careers. And the first night, she gave them food with sleep syrup. Killed them all, right then and there."

"What a coward," Clove remarks. I notice her sleek hair has been pulled back into a high ponytail with little segments cascading down her back. The style will certainly win her some sponsors. Then she addresses the thing we're all thinking about. "None of you are planning on doing that, right?" We all shake our heads. The silence is broken by the anthem. The faces of the dead show up. We grab our weapons and leave for the woods, leaving the boy from district three to set up the mines and guard the supplies.

* * *

**The games have started. Hopefully I got in a few quick moments of fight scenes for those of you who enjoy that. That's not really my specialty, and this was pretty short, though there is a longer one coming later. No spoilers, but it involves revenge. And also a little more insight into Cato's character. It took be a while to come up with a good explanation for him being so eager to kill, and hopefully this struck a balance between keeping him who he is and humanizing him a bit more. As always, feedback is welcome, and hope you enjoyed!**


	9. Chapter 9

**Disclaimer: I don't own the Hunger Games.**

* * *

We enter the woods and Clove and I put on the two pairs of night vision glasses in our supplies. We try to be quiet so the other tributes don't hear us coming, but we end up just chatting. Mostly to Lover Boy actually. He tells us Fire Girl will probably have set traps for animals and if we find one, we're nearby.

Half the night has gone by with no sign of Fire Girl when Marvel spots the light of a small flame. I'm hoping it's her, but as we draw closer I see the girl from district eight. Clove nudges her with a boot and she shrieks when she sees the six of us standing over her.

"Please don't kill me," she squeaks. We laugh and I pull out my sword and stick her in the stomach with it.

"Twelve down and eleven to go," says Marvel. This reminds me, once again, that Fire Girl is still out there somewhere. That twelve, in fact, is not down yet.

We check her pack but find only a few matches and a half-eaten pack of crackers.

"Better clear out so they can get the body before it starts stinking," I say, which brings more laughter from the group. We head towards a group of trees to wait for the hovercraft, but it doesn't come.

"Shouldn't we have heard a cannon by now?" questions Nixie.

"I'd say yes. Nothing to prevent them from going in immediately," replies Clove.

"Unless she isn't dead," says Glimmer.

"She's dead," I confirm. "I stuck her myself." This would be a first, if she isn't. I always get one hit kills, unless I'm trying to draw it out.

"Then where's the cannon?" insists Nixie.

"Someone should go back. Make sure the job's done." I glare at Clove. She should be on my side in this.

"Yeah," adds Marvel. "We don't want to have to track her down twice."

"I said she's dead!" I tell them. "We don't have time to go back. Fire Girl could be right here."

"No, we should be sure. I doubt you'd be so smug if she ended up killing one of us." Stupid Nixie. I want to stick her now, to show her how dead someone is after I'm through with them.

"Her?" says Clove. "Kill us? You're joking."

"Well," says Marvel. "She's got a point." I shove him angrily and he falls to the ground. He gets up and punches me in the jaw. I can feel a bruise forming.

"We're wasting time. I'll go finish her and let's move on." says Lover Boy.

"Go on then, Lover Boy," I tell him. "See for yourself."

"Why don't we just kill him now and get it over with?" asks Marvel when he is out of earshot.  
"Let him tag along. What's the harm? And he's handy with that knife," Clove counters him. "Besides, he's our best chance of finding her."  
"Why?" Nixie asks. "You think she bought into that sappy romance stuff?"  
"She might have." says Glimmer. "Seemed pretty simpleminded to me. Every time I think about her spinning around in that dress, I want to puke."  
"Wish we knew how she got that eleven," I say in frustration. Clove smiles.  
"Bet you Lover Boy knows."  
We hear Lover Boy's footsteps and quickly stop talking.  
"Was she dead?" I ask. A cannon fires.  
"No. But she is now," he replies.

We move on, but I am fuming. How could I not have killed her on the first try? I make a note to kill Lover Boy as soon as we've found his district partner.

Back at the lake, I offer to stand guard while everyone else sleeps. The sun is just rising but I'm not tired yet. I guess the adrenaline of the day is still pumping through me. I eat a few apples and lean against a crate, thinking about my fellow tributes. Other than us, the only tributes alive are the girl from five, the boy from ten, Fire Girl, and both of the tributes from eleven. Already half of the players are gone. This is going faster than I thought it would. The bloodbath always has heavy casualties, but I'm pretty sure these were higher than usual.

I look at my sleeping allies. Lover Boy is off to one side, facing away from the rest of us. Nixie and Marvel are curled in towards each other directly in front of me. Next to them, Glimmer sleeps stretched out on her back, hair spread beneath her. On the far right is Clove. She's curled up in a little ball in her sleeping bag and shaking like a leaf. I know she's probably still mad at me but I don't want her to be embarrassed in front of the others and I can tell she's having that dream again.

"Clove," I shake her awake. "It's your turn to watch." I give her a meaningful look.

"Thank you," she whispers as I lie down and drift off to sleep.

By late afternoon, we are all awake and we decide to explore whatever is beyond that drop off on the other side of the arena. I grab my sword and lead everyone across the flat plane of dirt that separates us from the cliff.

When we get to the edge, I see tall grass. I knew it was some sort of field from the start but some of the plants stretch far above my head.

"I bet you that's where Thresh went," Lover Boy says. I don't bother disagreeing because it's probably true. In eleven, they grow food and fields like this are normal. I've never seen one though, because district two is mountainous and there would never be ground flat enough to plant anything.

"Let's not go in there," I say. "Just wait for him to come out. We could get lost for days."

"Sounds like a plan," Clove agrees. "There are any number of mutts in there. Not to mention quicksand." We trek back to camp in silence. It is already nearing evening, so Marvel and I collect firewood for our bonfire.

"Hey," he says, once in the woods. "What do you think of Nixie?"

"Nixie?" I say. "She seems nice enough. Why?"

"Don't make fun of me," he says. "But I kinda have a crush." I nod. I can see why she would be pretty, with her wavy, streaky blondish hair and sea green eyes. Not really my type though.

"Okay then," I say. "I wouldn't make a big deal of it though. District twelve has the monopoly on star-crossed lovers."

"Yeah, I know." he says. "I just wish sometimes I could leave the games for a bit and just have a day with her in district one. Or four I guess."

"Maybe," I say. "But you're here to stay. Not that you'll win, of course."

Marvel doesn't smile. "You've never felt that way about someone?" Clove. I'm starting to think I feel exactly that way about her. But I am not playing that strategy. I am the vicious boy from district two and he does not fall in love.

"Never. Maybe one day though, I guess." We gather a bit more wood and then head back to the lake.

When the sun sets, we enter the woods again but find no tributes. My guess is they're all either too deep in to find in one night or have found a really good hiding spot.

"Let's go back," says Glimmer. "We've been out here for hours."

"We need to find someone. They're somewhere in here," I insist stubbornly.

"I'm sure the gamemakers will let us know if things are going too slowly." she argues. "It's almost morning anyway."

"Come on, Cato," says Clove. "We'll find them soon. But we need to rest." Her voice gets through to me in a way Glimmer's can't.

"Alright," I relent. "But tomorrow night we're going to find somebody."

"How do you think we should kill Fire Girl when we see her?" asks Nixie. Clove's face lights up and I can only assume mine is doing the same. I think back to our conversation on the train.

"I have a few ideas," she says with a smirk. Fire Girl had better watch out.

When the sun has risen, Nixie agrees to keep watch while we sleep. I eat some beef jerky and then drift off, knowing Nixie would never try anything after her sister's games.

"Hello, sleeping beauty." I open my eyes and see Marvel's green ones staring back at me. I groan and look up to see it's late afternoon. God dammit.

"How long was I asleep?" I demand.

"Only like nine hours," Clove grins. Nine hours? I don't sleep that much even on normal nights. I guess I have been a bit sleep deprived lately. I sit up quickly and see that the others are down by the lake. Nixie seems to be teaching them to swim.

I strip off my jacket, shirt, and pants leaving me in just my undershorts and head for the water. I'm up to my waist when I remember I don't know how to swim. Whatever. It can't be that hard. I push off the bottom of the lake and find myself sinking. My head goes under and I thrash under the surface, unable to breath. Using the sand in my toes as a guide, I figure out which way is up and struggle my way out of the water, taking a huge gulp of air. My fellow tributes know better than to laugh but Nixie is biting her lip to hold back a smile. I glance at Marvel and see he can't take his eyes off her. What is he doing? Doesn't he know that love in the arena will only break his heart?

* * *

**Yeah, I know, he's being a hypocrite. But progress has been made. Cato now is sure he likes Clove. Not that many ship moments, but more to come soon. Hope you enjoyed!**


	10. Chapter 10

**Disclaimer: I don't own the Hunger Games.**

* * *

By late afternoon, we are all awake and we decide to explore whatever is beyond that drop off on the other side of the arena. I grab my sword and lead everyone across the flat plane of dirt that separates us from the cliff.

When we get to the edge, I see tall grass. I knew it was some sort of field from the start but some of the plants stretch far above my head.

"I bet you that's where Thresh went," Lover Boy says. I don't bother disagreeing because it's probably true. In eleven, they grow food and fields like this are normal. I've never seen one though, because district two is mountainous and there would never be enough flat ground to plant anything.

"Let's not go in there," I decide. "Just wait for him to come out. We could get lost for days."

"Sounds like a plan," Clove agrees. "There are any number of mutts in there. Not to mention quicksand." We trek back to camp in silence. It is already nearing evening, so Marvel and I collect firewood for our bonfire.

"Hey," he says, once in the woods. "What do you think of Nixie?"

"Nixie?" I say. "She seems nice enough. Why?"

"Don't make fun of me," he replies. "But I kinda have a crush." I nod. I can see why she would be pretty, with her wavy, streaky blondish hair and sea green eyes. Not really my type though.

"Okay then," I say. "I wouldn't make a big deal of it though. District twelve has the monopoly on star-crossed lovers."

"Yeah, I know." he says. "I just wish sometimes I could leave the games for a bit and just have a day with her in district one. Or four I guess."

"Maybe," I say. "But you're here to stay. Not that you'll win, of course."

Marvel doesn't smile. "You've never felt that way about someone?" Clove. I'm starting to think I feel exactly that way about her. But I am not playing that strategy. I am the vicious boy from district two and he does not fall in love.

"Never. Maybe one day though, I guess." We gather a bit more wood and then head back to the lake.

When the sun sets, we enter the woods again but find no tributes. My guess is they're all either too deep in to find in one night or have found a really good hiding spot.

"Let's go back," Glimmer whines. "We've been out here for hours."

"We need to find someone. They're somewhere in here," I insist stubbornly.

"I'm sure the gamemakers will let us know if things are going too slowly." she argues. "It's almost morning anyway."

"Come on, Cato," says Clove. "We'll find them soon. But we need to rest." Her voice gets through to me in a way Glimmer's can't.

"Alright," I relent. "But tomorrow night we're going to find somebody."

"How do you think we should kill Fire Girl when we see her?" asks Nixie. Clove's face lights up and I can only assume mine is doing the same. I think back to our conversation on the train.

"I have a few ideas," she says with a smirk. Fire Girl had better watch out.

When the sun has risen, Nixie agrees to keep watch while we sleep. I eat some beef jerky and then drift off, knowing Nixie would never try anything after her sister's games.

"Hello, sleeping beauty." I open my eyes and see Marvel's green ones staring back at me. I groan and look up to see it's late afternoon. God dammit.

"How long was I asleep?" I demand.

"Only like nine hours," Clove grins. Nine hours? I don't sleep that much even on normal nights. I guess I have been a bit sleep deprived lately. I sit up quickly and see that the others are down by the lake. Nixie seems to be teaching them to swim.

I strip off my jacket, shirt, and pants leaving me in just my undershorts and head for the water. I'm up to my waist when I remember I don't know how to swim. Whatever. It can't be that hard. I push off the bottom of the lake and find myself sinking. My head goes under and I thrash under the surface, unable to breath. Using the sand in my toes as a guide, I figure out which way is up and struggle my way out of the water, taking a huge gulp of air. My fellow tributes know better than to laugh, though Nixie is biting her lip to hold back a smile. I glance at Marvel and see he can't take his eyes off her. What is he doing? Doesn't he know that love in the arena will only break his heart?

Roughly twelve hours later, I am in the woods having found no tributes all night. The mood isn't good. Glimmer is complaining about how much her feet hurt, Nixie keeps telling me to wait it out, and Marvel just seems bored. Only Lover Boy is silent. Clove and I talk quietly, because we both have a personal hatred for Fire Girl. There is something particularly awful about being outscored, outmatched, and outshone by somebody by just a little bit.

"After Fire Girl, who do you want to kill?" I ask, because this is the only way to keep going. To speak of vengeance until it happens because we are both just dying to find her.

"That boy from eleven," she says tonelessly. "Thresh or whatever."

"Okay. Or Lover Boy. We won't need him anymore," I tell her more quietly.

"Sounds like a plan. Of course, we will eventually have to get five. She might be hard."

"Only to catch," I reply. "Once we get her in one place she should be easy enough."

"Yeah," Clove says tiredly. "None of them matter as much though. We really do have to deal with Fire-" she stops short. I follow her eyes. What I thought was the light of dawn is actually a wall of flame not twenty yards behind us.

* * *

**This was sort of a filler chapter, but the next one has a lot more action. About the Marvel and Nixie thing, I got the idea from Water and Gold by let's go bother snape. You should totally read it; it's one of my favorite fanfics ever. Just to clarify, Nixie is not based off that character, I just thought it was a cool pairing and wanted to include it. Hope you enjoyed!**


	11. Chapter 11

**Disclaimer: I don't own the Hunger Games.**

* * *

"Run!" Clove yells. My feet take off without question. I don't know where I'm going, but my only thought is to escape the fire that threatens me. Clove and Nixie are ahead of me, and Glimmer, Marvel, and Lover Boy a few paces behind me, coughing on the thick black smoke that invades the air. To run is to live and I keep pushing, outdistancing the flames.

Behind me, the flames grow taller and hotter, as if hungry for us. I know that this is just a way to get us to meet up with another tribute. This, I know, is a good thing. But what good thing threatens to scorch your flesh if you get too close and makes you cough up your lungs when you breathe? Finally, after an indefinite amount of time, the fire stops. I'm relieved to be rid of it when a fireball collides with the ground about an inch from my foot.

I shout out and begin to run again. Luckily, the fire mainly got my shoe but I feel a slight pain in my ankle that tells me I'm not completely unharmed. Marvel pulls Lover Boy out of the way as another fireball passes his chest, skidding across his jacket and leaving a few scorch marks. We are all on our feet in a matter of seconds. Fireballs fly this way and that. I end up with another burn across my cheek. All of us are in bad shape and staggering when we make it back to the lake.

Nixie collapses in a heap on the ground and so does Marvel, right next to her, a few seconds later. Lover Boy is examining his wounds and Glimmer searches through the first aid kit for something to help with either the mistreatment of our lungs or the burns that have begun to hurt now that the heat of the moment - no pun intended - has passed. I see Clove wincing as she puts weight on her scorched leg and I feel the same pang I did when I heard her screaming that night in the training center. I walk over and put a hand on her back, trying to comfort her. She slaps it away. Ouch. But I guess she doesn't know about the training center, only that I heard her screaming.

I take a moment to look at my burns. The one on my cheek seems okay, but the one on my ankle definitely needs treatment.

"Got anything for this?" I ask Glimmer, indicating the spot.

"Nope," she replies, coughing. "I have some pain killers though." Some part of me wants to take the pain killers but I know I should keep up the appearance of an unstoppable victor.

"I'm fine," I say. "Let's go back."

"Back?" croaks Marvel. "All that's back there is fire."

"No, Cato's right. They were trying to get us to meet up with another tribute." Thank you, Clove, I think. The others are getting up wearily. The smoke still lingers in the air, so we wet the tops of our shirts and hold them over our mouths and noses. We walk quietly, but our footfalls must make some noise because the first sign of a tribute is splashing. The splashing is moving ever so slowly away from us. I break into a run and burst into a clearing with a small pond. On the other side of the pond is Fire Girl.

We all see her at the same time and take off running. She's fast, but limping and I know we'll catch her eventually. Just as Clove is reaching out to grab the back of her jacket, Fire Girl begins to climb a tree. What is she doing? She's just prolonging the inevitable.

"How's everything with you?" calls Fire Girl. Now she's insuring she'll get a slow and painful death, but I decide to play along.

"Well enough. Yourself?"

"It's been a bit warm for my taste," she replies. "The air's better up here. Why don't you come on up?" This girl is seriously suicidal. Does she think that if she's funny enough some sponsor will sent her something to drop on our heads? Stupid.

"Think I will," I reply.

"Here, take this, Cato," says Glimmer, holding out her bow. I can see Clove glaring at both of us.

"No," I decline. "I'll do better with my sword." You can't prolong somebody's death with a bow and arrows. I begin to climb. The rough bark scrapes my hands. Fire Girl is still climbing higher but she'll run out of tree eventually...

CRACK! The branch in my hand snaps and I'm falling. There is a sharp intake of breath from someone on the ground and I land on my back. For a moment I can't breathe. Clove offers me a hand up but I brush her off. I bet I've lost sponsors already today.

I quickly regain my feet, fuming, and muttering curses under my breath. My back aches, but I'm not injured, at least not badly. Somebody pushes Glimmer forward and she attempts the climb. However, the branches begin to sway when she puts her feet on them so she climbs back down. She then pulls out her bow and tries to shoot Fire Girl, but the arrow sticks two feet below her. Fire Girl grabs it and waves it teasingly above her head.

"Give me that," I command her. I pull back the unfamiliar bowstring and release, but the arrow ends up in the tree next to hers. I hand the bow back to Glimmer.

"What do we do?" asks Nixie.

"We could cut it down," suggests Marvel.

"Are you kidding me? We're not from seven and we don't have axes. It would take ages and even if we could get it down, it might come down on top of us," Clove counters.

"What about fire?" says Glimmer. "We could burn it."

"No way to control it," says Lover Boy. "Let's just wait her out. She has to come down at some point. That or starve to death."

"Dehydration would get her first," Clove mutters to me. We agree to make camp under the tree.

"Somebody make a fire," I say.

Clove and Glimmer go to gather wood, an arrangement Clove seems less than thrilled about, and Nixie goes back to lake for some food.

Later, when the sun is setting, Glimmer agrees to guard while the rest of us sleep. It's been a long day and I can't wait to kill Fire Girl. If outscoring me in training and stealing all of our sponsors at the chariot ride wasn't enough, taunting me in the tree certainly was.

* * *

**A pretty exciting chapter, don't you think? So much Clato tension... I love it. If I haven't mentioned this already, this story is canon, so Glimmer and Nixie won't exactly be around long. I'm actually a little eager to kill off Glimmer though... is that bad? Anyway, hope you enjoyed!**


	12. Chapter 12

**Disclaimer: I don't own the Hunger Games.**

* * *

I dream that Clove and I are chasing Fire Girl across that endless field. We catch her and I pin her down when she bursts into flame and begins to consume the grass around us. I look to Clove for help but she is angry at me and begins throwing her knives. I feel a sharp stinging sensation as each one hits me. One on my leg, one on my chest...

"Cato! Glimmer! Nixie!" Clove is yelling. I open my eyes and see that the air is full not of knives but of bees. I recognize tracker jackers. I see the branch on the ground with an open nest and put two and two together. Fire Girl dropped them on us. She is dead now.

"To the lake!" Marvel says. I follow him without question. In the time it took me to get up I have received one sting under my eye and another on my left wrist. I run blindly through the forest. Everything has a strange quality too it, like it's shiny. Trees I don't see appear right in front of me. Finally, we break through a clearing. I see the lake, or a lake, but it's blood red and boiling. I hesitate but jump in anyway. I stay under for as long as I dare and when I surface the bees are gone. Then I remember - Fire Girl.

"We're going back," I try to say but I can't seem to speak right. Running back towards the trees. Most of the bees are gone now but I see a few stinging a neon pink blob. Upon closer inspection, the blob is Glimmer. She is swollen all over with stings, not moving.

I look desperately for Fire Girl but only see Lover Boy. He's saying something.

"Katniss, go! Get out of here! Go! What are you doing? Go!" Katniss. Fire Girl. Some bright blue shape running away. My sword is still in my hand and I aim a death blow at Lover Boy's head. But why is his head on the ground? I shake myself to clear my head and see him running away, with a cut on his upper leg. No matter. That will kill him soon anyway.

I run away from Lover Boy and back to where I think the lake is. My sense of direction is a bit messed up but I eventually find the plane. Now the lake appears to be gone. Where it went I don't know. I feel my legs collapsing under me and black out.

Inside my venom-induced reality, I experience everything I knew I feared and many things I had no idea were so terrifying to me. Most of it is me dying in various ways I've seen throughout the years in the games. Particularly awful mutts, including the flesh-eating parasites they had in one swamp arena. My allies slitting my throat right now, or worse. Other things too. Aelia dies a few times, my mother once or twice. And Clove. She is everywhere, tortured to death in front of me, dying slowly while invisible forces keep me from getting to her. And these, for some reason, are by far the worst hallucinations. I know, in the haze, that Glimmer is dead. Were her last moments as awful as this? What about Marvel and Clove and Nixie?

When I finally do wake up, I don't really believe it. I keep expecting something terrible from inside my head to come out. But nothing does and I take in what is going on. I am about a hundred yards from the lake, but somebody has tucked me into a sleeping bag that is now soaked in sweat. Marvel is passed out a few yards to my left and Clove is right by the lake, also unconscious. The boy from district three sits by the supplies looking bored. I don't want to talk to him - never even bothered to learn his name - but I need to know what happened after I blacked out.

"You," I call. "What happened? Who's dead?"

"G-glimmer and the girl from f-four. I d-didn't know her name."

"Nixie. What about Lover Boy?"

"You mean P-Peeta?"

"Yeah, the one from twelve. Is he alive?"

"Yes. All of twelve are alive. Eleven t-too."

"Not for long. I know where I cut him. He'll be dead in a day."

I groan inwardly. So we lost two members of our alliance, were betrayed by another, and have not narrowed the field of other tributes at all since we killed the girl from eight.

"How long was I out?"

"This w-was the third day. I got stung t-too, but I woke up after an hour or so." I couldn't care less about this. I'm much more concerned about Clove and Marvel. By the position of the sun, it's early morning.

"Also," he adds. "I heard a c-cannon a few minutes ago." I hope it wasn't for any of my allies, but I guess the body be gone by now. The boy from three shows me the path between the mines he set up so I can eat and drink. When my hunger and thirst have been satisfied, I kneel by Clove. For some reason I can't quite make sense of, it hurts to see her like this. Eyes closed, shaking all over, and every few minutes she cries out in what I can only assume is fear. It's like that night in the training center, only worse. But there is no way to do what I did in the training center, not with my allies so close. Plus, I don't think she can just wake up from the venom like she can from sleep. If anything, any move I might make to help would probably be bent into something terrifying in her hallucinated reality. So why do I feel like I'm still in my own nightmare?

"Clove," I say softly, shaking her shoulder. "Wake up, Clove." I only get a terrified yelp in return. It feels like an actual blow to me. I tuck a stray strand of her dark hair behind her ear. Out of the corner of my eye I see the boy from district three watching me and shoot him a look that clearly says to go away. He apparently gets the message and scurries away to the far side of our camp. A stab of guilt hits me as I remember how I acted during the tracker jacker attack. Clove was the one to wake me up. If it weren't for her, I could be dead along with Glimmer and Nixie. And then I ran away, without a thought to her. She's been stung four times, just like me, but she's much smaller than I am. And, all of a sudden, I'm terrified she's going to die. I brush the thought away. She would have by now if she were going to. But still, I feel partially responsible. Without thinking, I lean down and brush my lips against her temple.

"Cato," I hear her murmur. I freeze. It was quiet and certainly still sounded afraid, but the fact that she might be aware of me is something. Unless, of course, it was coincidence. But no, because that would mean some part of her worst fears involves me. And that makes no sense. I stand up and brush myself off, furious at myself. Stupid. I can't let myself think about her that way. What would Brutus and Enobaria say? Only Brutus and Enobaria aren't here, just Clove on the ground in front of me, the tracker jacker venom having reduced this vicious killer to no more than a scared little girl. But a beautiful one all the same. Did I really just think that?

No, I tell myself. That's not an option. I've trained for this my whole life and one pretty girl is not going to screw this up. Beautiful. Whatever. But it's more than that. I've known plenty of pretty girls in my life. It's her personality, her character, her skill. I've never felt this way before. Still, I have to win. She has to die sooner or later, and better the former so I have less time to get to know her. But I couldn't kill her. I know that for a fact. The district three boy is returning and I know I shouldn't be so obvious about this, not to him or to the audience. I lean down again and take Clove's hand for a brief moment, arrange the sleeping bag around her carefully.

"Sleep well," I whisper, though there isn't much chance of that given the circumstances. Then I sit down by the lake, careful to keep her in my view.

* * *

**This was probably my favorite chapter so far, for pretty obvious reasons. I mean, technically nothing has happened, but still. Romantic thoughts at least. Don't worry - the good part will come. **

**Also - I'm looking to do an SYOT, but I only want to submit to one that will actually go through to the end. If anyone reading is doing or has seen a good SYOT, please let me know.**

**Hope you enjoyed! **


	13. Chapter 13

**Disclaimer: I don't own the Hunger Games.**

* * *

Clove wakes up an hour later and Marvel a few minutes after her. I fill them in about Lover Boy and tell them he's nothing to worry about any more. This at least seems to lighten the mood since Glimmer and Nixie are dead. Marvel in particular seems down and I remember he had a crush on Nixie. I feel a bit bad, but it's not exactly important given the situation.

We examine the stings and they are as swollen as ever. We try some cream from the cornucopia, but it has no effect.

"Maybe we ought to pull the stingers out," says Clove. I agree that this probably isn't making it better, brace myself, and pull out the one on my wrist. It's all I can do not to howl in pain. The stings are still incredibly tender and have swelled up around the barbed stingers. It does feel a little bit better once it's out though, so I do the one on my leg and my chest before turning to Clove. I am incredibly aware of the fact that I am no longer wearing my shirt because of having pull out the stinger under it.

"Could you get the stinger under my eye?" I ask her.

"Sure," she replies. I feel the excruciating yank and then slight relief. And it's almost worth it, because her hand brushes my forehead and makes all of the pain disappear for a moment.

"You're burning up," is all she says and gets me some of the fever pills from the first aid kit.

I glance off into the distance and spot a column of thick, black smoke rising. A tribute's campfire.

"Look!" I point up to the smoke. "Get your stuff. Come on." The three others rise to get their weapons, but Marvel stops short.

"Not him," he says, looking at the district three boy.

"Yes him," I shoot back. "We can't have too many of us dealing with Fire Girl."

"He's useless," says Marvel, not even bothering to conceal his words to me.

"He's coming. We need him in the woods, and his job's done here anyway. No one can touch those supplies," I say with finality.

"What about Lover Boy?" he asks.

"I keep telling you," I insist, "forget about him. I know where I cut him. It's a miracle he hasn't bled to death yet. At any rate, he's in no shape to raid us."

"Like how the girl from district eight was dead?" he mutters, but allows the boy from district three to come along.

"And remember," I add. "When we find her, I kill her in my own way, and no one interferes." I had it out for Fire Girl from the beginning, and that was before she dropped a tracker jacker nest on me and killed two of my allies.

The four of us reach the site of the fire quickly and find no tributes but see a second stream of smoking rising a short distance away.

"Let's go back," says Clove. "It could be a trap."

"No," I say stubbornly. "We haven't killed anyone since the first night. We're going to find whoever is doing this."

"We won't find anyone," says Marvel. He's been quite snappy since his district partner and love interest died to the stings. Maybe it bothered him more than I thought.

"We're going," I insist. "Fire Girl is probably behind this. Who else in this arena would light a fire in full view?"

"Exactly," says Clove. "Nobody would do that. It's a trap." I am about to say that they can either leave the alliance or follow me when something erases all traces of the argument from my mind. The sound of an explosion. Not a small explosion, not a cannon. A huge explosion. Like an all-the-mines-that-were-around-the-cornucopia-and-now-guard-our-supplies kind of explosion.

"The food," I say and take off running. We are a good twenty minutes from the plane walking, but we reach our supplies in about half that time. What used to be the supplies. All there is now is a pile of smoking rubble.

Rage floods me and before I know it I'm screaming and beating the ground with my hands. Only one thought is clear - I want anyone involved in that explosion dead. A small bit of hope finds me and I wonder if some of the supplies survived. I run to the pile and kick open the shells of crates. As I suspected, nothing. I suppose part of it's my fault, because I wanted to make sure anyone who tried to steal from us died. The district three boy did too well.

The district three boy. At least him I can make pay for what has happened. I turn on him furiously.

"You idiot!" I shout. "This is your fucking fault!"

"N- no. I..." he splutters. _He's lying._ I don't hesitate. I lock my fingers around his throat and break his neck, one handed. I can feel the internal damage under my hand. He is dead.

"Cato, please listen to me," calls Clove in frustration. The tone of her voice tells me she was talking to me before, but some part of me blocked it out.

"Why should I?" I shout, startled by the tone of my own voice. "Whoever did this is going to die. Soon. Tonight."

"Don't you understand?" she asks, pointing to the sky. "They are dead. He just misplaced the landmines." That makes me feel a bit better. I can think of few deaths worse than being blown to bits, fire all around you. I hope they didn't die right away and had time to feel the pain of what they did. Still, I'm not ready to calm down. I angrily kick the body of the district three boy, hating myself for ever trusting him.

"Who could have done this?" I yell. "I hope it was Fire Girl. It probably was. She killed Glimmer and Nixie, took away all of our sponsors at the chariot ride, and stole the show at her interview without even doing anything! If by some miracle she survived, she's going to suffer so much she'll wish she'd never been born."

"Yes, I know," she says. "But my main concern is how we're going to eat." I realize she's right. We check our packs. Clove has four energy bars, Marvel has a pack of dried fruit, and I have two apples and some beef jerky. With three of us, that food might not last a day.

We are all eagerly awaiting the sunset to see who destroyed the supplies. When the anthem finally plays, we see the boy from three. I hold my breath and the boy from ten appears. Then nothing at all.

"The boy from ten?" Clove asks incredulously. "The cripple?"

"Three said a cannon fired this morning. Probably either Thresh or Fire Girl," I tell her.

"So they're alive," says Marvel. "Dammit!"

"We'll find them," I reply. "We have to." Clove and I put on our night vision glasses and Marvel snaps a branch from a tree and lights it to serve as a torch. We set off into the woods.

Wearing the night vision glasses, the world takes on a new quality. It's like seeing things in black and white, only it's dark blue and silver. The trees, however, are completely silent. I can feel my frustration growing and I think if we don't find somebody soon, I may have to snap somebody else's neck. Probably Marvel's, but he seems to sense this and keeps well in front of me. When the sun begins to peek over the horizon, he offers to set some of the traps he learned in training, the ones that trap a tribute in a net. I let him, because really I'm just aching for another kill.

Clove and I walk back to the lake together and I offer to take the first watch while she sleeps. She agrees and snuggles down in the sleeping bag a few feet from the water. They say everyone looks younger in sleep, but with her the difference is even more pronounced. Without her weapons, her nearly permanent look of annoyance, she could be no older than that little girl from eleven. It's like there's a fierce battle going on between the two sides of my brain as I stare down at her. She's so beautiful. Shut up, you can't think that. Why not? She's going to die eventually, why make it hurt? What if it's worth it? It won't be. I could kiss her right now. What if she woke up? What if I don't care? I turn away, trying to block all of these conflicting thoughts going through my head. It's already more complicated than I would like. I shouldn't make it harder on myself.

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**More thoughts, but no action yet. I have a feeling you'll like the next chapter quite a bit though. No spoilers, but things... progress a bit. Also, oh my gosh. The TFIOS (the fault in our stars) extended trailer is out! I absolutely adore that book, though I haven't written any fanfic for it. I couldn't bring myself to reread it, it was so sad. You should all go watch it. Hope you enjoyed!**


	14. Chapter 14

**Disclaimer: I don't own the Hunger Games. **

**(Play Demons by Imagine Dragons)**

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As I watch the sun sluggishly make its way across the sky, I realize how hungry I am. This is the first time in my life when I haven't had enough to eat. My family could always provide for us, and at the academy we had plenty though it wasn't always what we wanted. And of course, in the Capitol, there was all the food in the world. So it's a new feeling and I hate it. My stomach hurts, but not in the way that precedes vomiting. It's an empty, burning sort of sensation. By mid-morning I can't wait any longer and eat one of the apples. We've got another. It'll be fine.

When the sun tells me it's noon, Clove begins to shiver in the way that means she's having a nightmare so I shake her awake. Her eyes dart around for a second, and then she seems to assure herself that she is safe and sits up.

"What do you dream about?" I ask before I can stop the words. I shouldn't have said that. Her face is becoming closed off and angry.

"I'm sorry," I try to backtrack. "You said not to bring it up and I won't. I promise I'll never mention it again."

"No," she says, more tiredly than angrily. "I guess I can tell you. But, in the tent." I take this to mean it's not for the Capitol's ears. We enter the tent, which so far hasn't been slept in at all, and I feel absurdly like I'm a twelve-year-old girl at a sleepover, whispering secrets in the dark. I resist the temptation to prompt her. She will tell me when she wants or not at all. I can feel my heart beat speeding up and try quiet my quick breathing, so as not to make her feel like I'm waiting, though really that's not the reason for it at all.

"I had an older brother," she begins. "Julius was his name, but everyone called him Jules. He was in the hunger games when I was just five." I stay quiet but I am confused. Obviously her brother didn't make it but Clove is okay with death. I've seen her kill in the bloodbath and she must have at the academy. When I was thirteen, my friend Sonya wanted to opt out of it because just the day before she had seen her older sister die brutally at the hands of an axe - her weapon. The trainers didn't let her and she ended up quitting because it was too painful for her. Clove could never have got out of that.

"Do you remember Titus?" she asks me. That would explain a few things. About ten years ago, this kid from six went totally crazy. Insanity's not that uncommon in the arena, but he started eating the remains of the people he killed. The gamemakers had to immobilize him when they collected the bodies of his victims. Technically it wasn't against the rules, but the Capitol wasn't so into cannibalism and the games are for them. I nod assent and she continues.

"Well, Jules made it past the bloodbath and everything. He used a spear and was able to take out a few people. But a few days in, mutts attacked and destroyed all of their food. It was that mountain arena, so it wasn't like there were lots of edible plants and he wouldn't have known them anyway. So they started to fight about it. The ones killed off district four and Jules's partner, and he got away wounded without anything to eat. That's when Titus found him." She shivers.

"Jules put up a good fight, but he hadn't had food in days. Eventually he was killed and when he was Titus started to... you know. You have to imagine, I was five and my brother was dying in front of me like that. Finally, the gamemakers stunned him so they could collect the body but all we got back was a leg and a pile of bones." I can imagine it now, a thought that makes even my stomach turn a little.

"The thing is, I think it wasn't even that bad. But when you're a little kid, everything seems so much scarier. Maybe I would be okay with it if it happened now, but the way I remember it is terrifying." I don't know what do say. Obviously Clove just shared something with me she's possibly never told anyone. I should say something, right?

"I'm so sorry," I tell her.

"Don't worry about it," she says in a lighter tone. "I'm fine."

"So, should I wake you when you're having that dream?" I ask.

"You can tell? Do I scream or something?"

"Yeah, sometimes but mostly you'll just start shaking. There was one night though that you were screaming over and over."

"In the training center?" I nod. "Well, sure, I guess you can wake me. But if it doesn't get better I'll tell you. Some nights are just bad nights." There's a silence. I feel that this is the time to tell her something, if I want to. But what to tell her? That I like her? That I hate it when she is in any kind of pain? I open my mouth, but I can't seem to get the words out. Words have never been my strong point - that was always actions. So I lean forward and kiss Clove on the lips.

Our lips crash together and I can't breathe for a moment. Then I realize not only has she not pulled away, she's kissing me back. Her hair still carries the faint scent of wood smoke. I've kissed other girls at the academy, but this feels different. A real warmth floods through my veins, though her lips are pleasantly cool. She's not like the other girls either, the blondes, the ones who beg me for attention. The Glimmers of the world. But right now, I could not imagine how she could be more perfect. We stay like that, lips locked together, for almost a minute until I pull away to catch my breath. The air between us feels like it's charged with electricity.

"So..." I say breathlessly.

"Um, yeah. And you?"

"Yeah. Like that." Our words alone seem arbitrary but it's obvious to both of us what we mean. I am confirming that this was not just something that happened - that we have something, though what that something is I have no idea.

"I'm going to sleep," I tell her. "Wake me around four, if I'm not already up." Clove agrees and I curl up in the pile of blankets inside the tent. I dream not about the arena or life back home, but about a certain pair of lips.

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**I told you it would be important, didn't I? But yes! They finally kissed! Such happiness, though sadly it can't last forever. But if you didn't read it with the music you should. If the end of the bridge lines up with the kiss... utter perfection. Trust me, it's a million times better. Hope you enjoyed!**


	15. Chapter 15

**Disclaimer: I don't own the Hunger Games.**

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I expect Marvel to be back when I wake up, so when I leave the tent I am surprised when Clove is sitting alone gnawing the last bits of flesh from an apple core.

"Sorry," she says. "I was starving."

"It's fine," I say. "I ate one too. I wish Brutus and Enobaria would send something." She agrees. I think we have sponsors, right? At least a few who would be willing to send us a decent meal.

"So, no Marvel," I say to take my mind off food.

"No," she confirms. "I think he wanted to check his traps a few times before coming back. If he's not here by sundown we can go looking."

"You think something happened?" I ask.

"Maybe. Hard to tell. No cannons though." As if on cue, a cannon fires. We wait with bated breath and another cannon sounds about a minute later. We keep waiting, but there are no more shots.

"Think it was him?" I ask her.

"I don't know. There are only six, now that two more have died. Obviously we're fine. And I doubt it's Lover Boy because two cannons in a row suggests a fight, probably with an alliance. So I'd say it's either Marvel, five, Fire Girl, or the elevens." It makes sense. I don't say it, but I'm sort of glad that Marvel isn't here. Because of what happened before I went to bed.

Clove seems to be reading my mind because she inclines her head towards the tent. I climb in after her, trying but not caring much to not look too suspicious. I barely have time to zip up the flap before she's kissing me again. I don't know how long we stay there; it feels like both only a second and an eternity. We are only stopped when Clove starts to doze off on my shoulder, so I tuck her into a sleeping bag and plant one last kiss on her forehead. Some part of me is still screaming that this can't last, that I'm playing with fire, that the only thing I'll ever get out of this is a broken heart. But for once, I block it out. There's still a chance I could die in this arena, so I may as well make these days the best they can be.

When the sun has set, a silver parachute floats down outside so I rouse Clove. Attached to the parachute is a basket bearing a wonderful meal.

"Took them long enough," I say, but I'm grateful. Inside is a container of still-warm pumpkin soup with flakes of parmesan cheese and a long loaf of bread. I rinse one of Clove's unused knives in purified water, slice the bread, and serve us each some soup in the provided bowls. It's delicious and for a few minutes we don't speak at all, enjoying the meal. I want to eat it all, but the sponsor money is surely limited so we stick to pretty small servings.

We are startled out of our food daze when the anthem begins to play and the Capitol seal shines above us. I grasp hands with Clove and hope for Marvel's safety. Our fears are confirmed when his is the first face to show up. I wait, hoping for Fire Girl, but instead see the little girl from eleven.

"What do you think happened?" I ask.

"Probably a fight. My guess is Marvel caught Rue, that's the little girl, and killed her but one of her allies got him before he could clear out. Thresh, probably."

"Yes, it was probably him," I say. "He is her district partner. But I thought he was in that field."

"True," she says. "And Lover Boy's out, there's no way he could kill anyone right now. It could be the girl from five, but I don't think she'd have been hiding all this time if she had the skills to kill Marvel. So that just leaves Fire Girl. You think they'd have been allies?"

"It might make sense," I say. "Remember the fires the day of the explosion? I'll bet Fire Girl had an accomplice. But that still doesn't explain a few things."

"What?" she asks.

"Well, first of all, how did she survive the explosion? And how did she kill Marvel anyway? She got an eleven, but she's not strong and all she has is a knife."

"I have a theory," replies Clove slowly. "It might not be right, but I thought I saw Fire Girl take Glimmer's bow after the tracker jacker attack. I don't think it was a hallucination."

"And the supplies?" I prompt.

"I don't know. Maybe she got a burning arrow through that net and managed to make a crate collapse or something. Or she just hit a mine with an arrow and three did it wrong, so they all went off." It does make sense. Clove is certainly smart and knows how to think like her enemies. It's not just her knife skills that got her into the games this early, it's her frame of mind. Her ability to stay in control when in anger doesn't hurt either.

"Can I sleep?" I ask her. She lets me. There is no point hunting tonight when the only people who we could definitely take are either too quick for us - the girl from five - or on their way out anyway - Lover Boy.

Morning brings unease. Marvel's death has reminded us of the fact that only one of us can survive. We share no more kisses inside the tent and keep mostly out of each other's way. Over the course of the day, we finish all of our sponsor gift but some of the bread. I can only hope another is coming soon.

A little voice keeps nagging me in the back of my head to just get it over with. Kill her now. Or, at the very least, leave her on her own and hope somebody else takes her out. But I can't do it. She would likely survive anyway, even without me. I'd just be putting myself in danger. As for killing her off, that's impossible. I couldn't live with myself. Ever. What a pathetic excuse for a career I am.

Our day is uneventful. We eat, bathe in the lake, and make a failed attempt at fishing. No cannons fire. So when the anthem plays, I don't even bother to wake Clove who has gone to bed early. But then I hear the sound of trumpets and know they're inviting us to a feast. I guess we're not the only ones running low on food. We'll definitely be going and will hopefully get to take out a tribute or two while we're at it. But it's not a feast. Instead, they're saying something about a rule change. I nudge my district partner awake, because this might be important, and then listen intently. Claudius Templesmith is saying that now, two tributes can win if they're from the same district. Then he repeats it again, to be sure we've got the message. I can hardly believe it. I open my mouth to tell her, in case she didn't hear, but my words are blocked by her lips on mine.

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**Rule change! This was sort of a filler chapter, and the next one will be too, but coming soon is one that is both my favorite and least favorite. But hey, their love is no longer doomed! Hope you enjoyed!**


	16. Chapter 16

**Disclaimer: I don't own the Hunger Games.**

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"Did you hear that?" I ask her, once she's pulled way. "We can both do it."

"Yes, we can go home," she replies. "Together." I'm giddy with excitement. We no longer need to be afraid of getting too attached. We're both going to live. I doubt this is for our benefit, because this will be because of everyone's favorite star-crossed lovers, but it still means so much for us.

For the first time, we both enter the tent together. Still only one of us sleeps at a time, but our bodies are pressed together, sharing the biggest sleeping bag. The nights are getting colder, but in the tent it's plenty warm. I am so glad, for the first time, to actually be able to think about having a life with Clove outside the arena. There are only six tributes left. We're a third of the competition. And unless they've got sponsors galore, Fire Girl will never be able to save Lover Boy and he'll be gone. The girl from five will be easy to kill once we catch her, which won't be hard if the gamemakers want us driven together. We can take Thresh with two of us, especially if he comes here. And Fire Girl. I think with a little luck, and maybe some protection from sponsors, we can take her out and have both of us live to tell the tale. We can actually win.

In the morning the empty feeling has returned and we each eat an energy bar and half of the beef jerky, leaving only two energy bars left. Then we set about hunting for food. I'm not familiar with this, but I know Clove went to edible plants during training.

"Do you know of anything to eat?" I ask her.

"Um..." she says, struggling to remember. "I think there was one thing. Tree bark."

"Tree bark? Of what tree?" I ask her incredulously.

"Pine trees."

"And which are those?"

"The ones with the needles," she tells me vaguely. We eventually find said pine tree and Clove tells me to scrape off the outer bark. I scrape until I see something that apparently looks like it and I cut off a piece. I put the bark in my mouth and immediately spit it out.

"Edible or not, I'm not eating that," I tell her. She can't remember any other plants so we decide to try for some meat. Eventually, one of Clove's knives catches some kind of fat bird. It looks edible enough, so we bring it back to the fire and cook it for a late lunch. Then I go back to bed, the hunting having tired me.

Clove wakes me with a quick kiss when the sun is just starting to set. We finish our bird and retire early, knowing there were no deaths that day.

That night is another one of Clove's 'bad nights' and we spend most of it lying awake in the tent. I ask her if she wants to talk about it but she declines my offer. I guess we're sort of together now but this is a sensitive topic so I don't push it. Instead I just kiss each of her still-swollen tracker jacker stings and stroke her hair until she is able to get a little bit of sleep. I feel so at home with Clove now. I think I maybe even love her, but I'm not ready to tell her that yet. That can wait for when we are home and alone. Even in the tent, you get the feeling the Capitol could be monitoring us. I doubt they'd show anything though, because they already have a love story going. And we're probably just portrayed as obstacles to their happily-ever-after. That's probably how they see us too. If only they knew.

The sun brings another parachute bearing a meal. More bread with butter and jam and peaches this time. It's not as extravagant as the last, so I worry that the money might be running out, but it's delicious. This time, we save most of the food for later and instead eat our stale energy bars. Our efforts at hunting are unsuccessful but my biggest concern is Fire Girl. She's obviously lying low, maybe trying desperately to keep her boyfriend alive. I can't believe he's made it this far. I just hope we find some means of protecting ourselves from her arrows before she comes after us.

Again, nothing much happens until the anthem, when we hear trumpets again. I'm half expecting another rule change or even the rule change being revoked, but it's a feast. Claudius Templesmith's voice booms over the arena.

"Hello, tributes and congratulations for making it to the final six. I would like to cordially invite all of you to a feast. Now, wait. Some of you may already be declining my invitation but this is no ordinary feast. Each of you needs something desperately. And each of you will find that something in a backpack labeled with your district number in the cornucopia at dawn. Think twice about refusing to show up. For some of you, this will be your last chance."

"I want to go," says Clove. "Get our pack. Kill Fire Girl."

"No," I say flatly. "She's my kill. She outshone me at the chariot ride. She outscored me in training by one point. Her boyfriend got her all the attention at the interviews. She killed two, possibly three, members of my alliance. And she blew up my supplies. I want to kill her in my own way."

"She did all of those things to me, too," Clove points out. "And I haven't killed anyone since the bloodbath. You got the boy from three and the girl from eight. And I promise, I'll give them a show. You can get Thresh too, if you want."

"The girl from eight didn't die," I remind her.

"That's not my fault," she replies coolly. I'm angry but she makes a decent point. Still, I'm not willing to let her go alone. I'm not going to risk anything happening to her.

"Something could happen," I say. "Thresh or Fire Girl could get you."

"I'll be fine," she says. "Just because I'm smaller doesn't mean I'm incompetent. I got the same score as you in training."

"I just-" I start. "I just don't think I could lose you." As I say the words I know they are true. Clove gives a small smile.

"You won't lose me. You can cover me, if that makes you feel better. Look for the others while I get the pack." I'm still not happy with the arrangement but I don't think I'll be able to sway Clove. She gives me a small, light kiss. I whip my head around but she just shrugs.

"I doubt they'll show it anyway. And if they do, who cares? I bet there will be food in the pack too. Plus, I'm sure somebody would still sponsor us." It's likely true, but that doesn't stop me from being a little embarrassed.

The two of us make our way to the tent and she takes the first watch because I hardly got any sleep last night. She wakes me for our switch and I spend the rest of the night playing with her dark hair. Unknotting the strands, braiding them together, then separating them again. When I can see the rays of the rising sun but it has not yet made its way over the horizon, I almost just go to the feast alone. But I made a promise and I will keep it.

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**Next chapter... things happen. I'm kind of excited but kind of sad it has to end. That said, it's probably the best chapter.**

**IsabelleLudwig - Thank you so much for all the reviews and support. To answer your question, this story does follow the book, so Katniss and Peeta will win the games. However, I do have plans for two sequels with Cato and Clove. Sorry if that's a bit vague, but I don't want to give away spoilers. If it's a popular idea, I may start working on an AU during the same time, but the story doesn't end where the book does.**

**Hope you enjoyed!**


	17. Chapter 17 - The Feast

**Disclaimer: I don't own the Hunger Games.**

**(Play... you know what, play whatever sad song you want. I have too many to count. But if you need suggestions try Last Kiss by Taylor Swift, Kiss It Better by He is We, or Say Something by A Great Big World and Christina Agulara.)**

* * *

Once we are well-supplied with weapons, Clove and I make our way to the trees around the cornucopia. There's no movement there yet, but the sun hasn't quite risen.

"Are you sure you don't want me to come with you?" I ask. I still don't like the idea of her going by herself. But she shakes her head.

"I'm sure," she insists. "I'll be fine. Now come on, it'll start any second." I begin to go deeper into the woods, but something makes me turn back. Something - I don't know what exactly, but I don't want to leave her alone.

"What is it?" Clove asks. I shake my head quickly and press my lips to hers.

"If something happens," I start as I pull away.

"It won't," she cuts me off, giving me a light push away from her.

"If something happens," I repeat myself. "Just call my name, okay? And I'll come."

"I will," she tells me. "But nothing will go wrong. We're careers, remember? We've got this in the bag." I swallow hard and turn away, trying to repress the feeling of dread.

"I have to go," Clove says. For a moment, I think she might be about to say something more, but she shrugs her shoulders and positions herself to run.

I set off maybe a hundred yards into the trees, and scan the woods, looking for signs of people. I have only to wait a few minutes when the red-headed girl from five comes sprinting into the trees. I take off after her without hesitation, but it's immediately clear she's faster than I am. Something is nagging at me - I shouldn't be going this far away. I stop running as the girl from five turns a corner and disappears from view. I am just about to start back in the direction of the cornucopia when I hear it. A voice. A scream, splitting through the cold morning air. Bloodcurdling and heart wrenching and desperate and unmistakably Clove's.

"Cato! Cato!"

"Clove!" I respond.

I am running towards the sound before I can even register what is going on. I could be running into a trap but I don't care. If she is in danger, and I know she is because she would never scream like that if she weren't, I am coming no matter the cost. I would give my life for hers right now, no question about it.

I burst into the clearing, chest on fire. Fire Girl is running into the trees, Thresh into the field with my backpack clutched in his hand. And Clove, she is on the ground. I see it, but my brain doesn't quite process it for a second. She's fine. She's got to be fine. There's no way she could be anything but that. So why isn't she moving? And why was she calling my name? She's injured, I tell myself, trying not to panic. She's injured and it's a setback, but she'll be fine, she has to be.

"Clove," I call, some of the fear I'm feeling for her betraying itself in my voice. I wait for her to get up, to greet me with one of her rare smiles, to kiss me again. She doesn't. I give her a second; maybe she's just disabled for the moment. And she still doesn't. I'm at her side, again, before I can even decide to go. Only I don't think it will matter.

Clove lies on the ground, breathing quick and uneven. A puncture mark on her arm is oozing blood and there is a terrifying dent at her temple. Thresh did this, I'm sure of it. A rock the size of three of my fists lies next to her. There is not screaming now, no huge pool of blood. The damage is internal but probably irreparable. I kneel and take her hand, lifting her head into my lap. I stroke her hair, but my is hand shaking. Her eyes are filled with tears, from pain or sadness I don't know. It takes me a moment to realize tears are falling from my eyes as well. I have lost the image of the unstoppable victor, but what does it matter? She's dying.

"I'm so sorry," she gets out. Her eyes are struggling to focus on my face, her breaths coming in painful gasps. She's hurting, and, like so many other times, there's nothing I can do.

"You have nothing to be sorry for," I tell her, desperate. It's my fault. For not being there. For being too late to save her.

"Win for me," she says, and I have to lean down to catch her words. Her voice is weak, but urgent.

"I will," I say softly. "I'll win for you." I will have to. I cannot break this promise, this dying wish of hers. I will win, because I told her I would, but not because I have any will to live. She takes in a ragged breath and I squeeze her hand tighter, wishing more than anything I could ease her pain.

"Cato," Clove whispers. Her mouth lies open and her expression is panicked, as if she's trying to say more but can't. The light is fading from her dark eyes fast.

"Shh. It's okay," I say softly, but I know my words are empty. "You're gonna be fine. Brutus and Enobaria, they'll send something." I look to the skies. "It's okay. Stay with me. Please!" My voice has risen to a shout. The look she gives me breaks my heart. So innocent, so pained, so afraid. So not the girl she was only a few minutes ago. No parachute descends from the sky. I don't even think there's anything I could do to help her now. She may even be beyond the Capitol's help. The Capitol. The Capitol could save her, I bet, but they don't want to. They won't. Her life means nothing to them. They are probably glad for her death, glad that their little lovers have defeated one villain and now have a better chance of going home together. They don't care for the girl dying on the ground in front of me, only for how it will effect Fire Girl and Lover Boy.

The light is almost gone. I shake her, too hard probably, but I can't let her go. I can't let her leave me. I don't even know if she is still conscious. I kiss her, begging those stories my mother used to tell Aelia to come true. But Clove is no princess and she cannot be saved by her true love's kiss. True love. I never got to tell her I loved her. I can tell her now. Maybe there is some miniscule chance she can still hear me.

"I love you, Clove," I whisper in her ear, the one that is undamaged and has the best chance of picking up my voice. No response.

"Answer me!" I scream at her. The only answer I get is a cannon. One heart has stopped beating. One body will be removed by hovercraft. One pair of lungs can no longer breathe. But two people lose the ability to be happy. Two will never really leave this arena. One person has died but two people stop living.

The pain hits me all at once, doubling me over. I want to die. I want it all to end. I clutch desperately at Clove, tears falling over her cold and expressionless face and onto her jacket. My hands find her hair, her cheek, her lips, searching for a hint of life that I know I'll never find. I just never thought she would look like this, so undeniably dead. They say it's almost like sleep. But it couldn't be further from it. Chest still, not rising and falling as it was a moment ago. Her eyes wide open, blank, staring. Just a corpse. Sobs wrack my body. Falling. I'm falling. All I can do is weep endlessly into what used to be her chest. Because Clove is gone. Her body is still here, the shell of what she was. But the girl I love - loved - will never come back.

"I love you," I whisper again, the tears rendering my voice almost useless. "I'm so sorry." It's all just too much. And, as selfish as it is, I want to take my sword right now and slit my own throat. The only thing that stops me is my promise to her.

"Win for me." I have to now. I told her I would. That was the last thing she told me, her last request. But no, it wasn't the last thing she said. My name. Her last words were my name.

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**Here it is. At last, the feast. Both the best and the worst scene of this entire story. Out of curiosity, did anyone cry? I didn't writing it, but I tend not to be too sensitive to stuff like that. BTW, the reason I labeled this chapter is because I, and I'm guessing some other people, am often guilty of clicking on long stories just to skip to this scene. But if you are one of those people, do read the rest. (I think) it's pretty good. Hope you enjoyed! *sob***


	18. Chapter 18

**Disclaimer: I don't own the Hunger Games.**

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I should go. I know this, in the small part of my brain that is not screaming in agony. I should leave and let the hovercraft take her and kill Thresh and kill five and kill the star-crossed lovers and go home like I told her I would. So why can't tear myself from her? I try to think clearly. I cannot hold onto her forever. That would be breaking my promise. I unzip her from the jacket, trying not to feel how cold her flesh is. I put it on over my own, inhaling the scent of wood smoke. I search her for a token and finally find a ring set with a blue gem. This must me a family heirloom or something. I refuse to consider the idea that she ever had another boy in her life. It is too small for my finger, so I put it in the pocket of the coat and keep it there. What else should I take? Her pack has been taken by Thresh, no doubt. I will get it back when I kill him. Something catches my eye. A gleam of silver. It's a knife, probably the one that Clove would have used to kill Fire Girl. I take it and slip it into my belt. I'm no good with knives, but I feel I should have it with me.

As I slip my pack on, thunder booms and it begins to rain. This feels appropriate and I don't resent the weather. I just pull my hood - Clove's hood - up and keep walking. I feel no more emotions. I am the ruthless killing machine my trainers always wanted me to be. I have only one objective in my mind - win the games.

The trek through the rain is long and tiresome. Once I make it to the cliff, I drop the ten feet into the grass and have to spend several minutes deciding whether or not it is even worth it to get up. Eventually I do get up, but only because of the promise. Once in the grass, it still takes me hours, maybe days to find him. The anthem plays and Clove's beautiful face shines in the sky. Twice I start following a trail, only to find it is my own. Once I try to keep walking on and bounce back off a force field. When I do come into the clearing, I have only a second to prepare before he's there. He holds a large sickle in his right hand and a rock in his right, and wears an expression of unmistakable fear.

For a moment, I forget about all of the pain I'm feeling. He killed her. Without a thought to strategy I charge at him. My sword catches his calf, but I end up with a gash across my forehead as well. While I'm still blinded by my own blood, he jumps on my back and is about to smash the rock down on my neck when I throw him off. He lies in the grass for a moment, and it's enough for me to jab him in the ribs. A second later I'm thrown off my feet as he launches himself at my shoulder. My sword goes skidding out of my hands, and I barely manage to block his blow to my chest with an arm. I'm losing. After all my training I'm losing. I close my eyes, and when I do, I see Clove standing in the grass, just watching me. I am flooded with rage. Thresh killed her, and there is no way he's getting away with it.

When he goes in for the next strike I kick him with both feet and send him flying. He lands on his feet, but I manage to grab my sword again and get a hit to his left hand. Back and forth we go, each of us briefly gaining the advantage and losing it as quickly as it came. I am cut on the face, the arms, the back, the legs, and smashed in the chest so hard I know I've at least bruised a rib. But he is hit on the waist, the shoulder, the wrists, the knees. I know where to aim for to disable him. He may be strong, but I need only think of Clove and my resolve is doubled. A punch to the arm. A slice to the foot. Around and around we go, neither of us able to land a fatal hit. But I'm winning now. He's weakened. Clove, I won't let you down, I think, and thrust my sword into his hip. He staggers for a moment, unable to stand. I see an opportunity and take it. Not to kill him. No, I'm not going to do that yet. Only to win once and for all. I fake a swing to the left, to confuse him. Then I strike him hard with the hilt of my sword and he falls into the mud and trampled grass.

I get on top of him and we struggle for a moment, him straining against the weight that even his muscles can't lift. I sit there, catching my breath, trying to think of some way to kill him that will be awful enough for what he has done.

Once, at the academy, we did a unit on particularly brutal ways to kill. Some of them are specialized techniques I never learned and others seem not even close to a sufficient punishment. But there is one that always appealed to me that I think might barely begin to compensate. It is called signing. It is done with a knife or a sword and is a cruel way of marking a kill as your own. You carve your name, or your initials if that is too long, into their flesh in the most painful places, but not deep enough to kill them. I grasp my sword, but remember Clove's knife. Perfect.

Holding tight to the delicate dagger, I turn sideways and carve a C from one of Thresh's ears to the other, going over his forehead in a curve. He is making no sound, unwilling to give me that satisfaction, but I see tears rolling down his dark cheeks and interspersing with the rain and blood. I take a moment to consider what to do, then open an L-shaped cut on his chest, making sure not to get the neck or go too deep. I would never do something so kind as kill him now. The O comes next, starting on the ribcage and making its way over his stomach in a neat circle. I slice a V into his waist area and realize I'm out of room on his body. No matter, I still have his immense legs. I choose the left leg, the one furthest from me, and make the uppercase E. I stand up, one foot on his stomach to prevent escape, and admire my handiwork. I could stand here all day and let him bleed out, but I've got other people to kill. I pick up my bent sword from the ground and slice his head off, observing without emotion that his broken body now reads love. Perfect. With or without his head, he bears the name of something he took from me.

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**Revenge... That was sort of a weird chapter, just because there's a bit of deterioration of sanity going on. Yeah, more than a bit. But I did have the longest fight scene so far. As I've said before, I don't love writing fight scenes, so hopefully it was okay. Hope you enjoyed! **


	19. Chapter 19

**Disclaimer: I don't own the Hunger Games.**

**(Play Let Her Go by Passenger)**

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When the cannon fires, and it takes a while for me to be sure because of the thunder, I look around for the first time. I am in a clearing and a tent has been set up. A bowl has been set out, perhaps to catch rainwater, and is overflowing. The firm ground that once held the grass has been reduced to liquid dirt. I am covered in it. There is no point now in going back to the lake yet. I may as well just stay here until the storm has stopped. I don't want to go back there anyway. I don't want to spend the night in the tent that she slept in. I thought killing Thresh would make me feel a little better. That is not the case. I am empty.

Inside the tent are four packs. One is hers, two are from the feast, and one probably belongs to Thresh. No, belonged. He no longer exists. Stripping off my outer layer of clothes and leaving them outside in a mud puddle makes me shiver, so I climb into the large sleeping bag as I open the first pack. It's the one with the two, and holds two sets of body armor and a few loafs of bread gone slightly soggy. One has a chunk ripped off it. Two sets. I take the smaller, not the larger one, and pull it over my clothes. The material stretches a lot, so I can get my legs and upper body into it but the translucent gloves will not fit. They were not made for large hands like mine, but for smaller ones. Hands that could throw a knife fifteen yards and just as easily carve an intricate pattern into the flesh of her enemy. I decide not to put mine on. I want to keep as many pieces of her as I possibly can. Besides, a hit to the hand is never fatal. In the pack with the eleven, I find nothing. I can only assume it contained the sickle he had when we fought. Thresh's pack holds two water bottles, a package of crackers, some cooked fish wrapped in plastic, a pack of dried fruit, and some assorted grain, also in plastic. A knife and a few spear heads are tucked into another pocket as well. Finally I open her pack. A sleeping bag. A half-full water bottle. Iodine. Matches. Night vision glasses. Nothing at all to suggest who she was. All of her knives were back at camp. I hate it, hate that life is not a story. Just like a girl can't be roused from near death by the kiss of her lover, the same girl will not leave a loving reminder of who she was in her possessions for me.

I promise myself not to think of her for the rest of the night and make a meal of Thresh's fish. He is too strong and too good a person to leave poisoned food for his killer. Good person? No, despicable. He killed her. No, I'm not going to think about her. I should instead think about the other tributes - the living ones.

Lover Boy and Fire Girl are allied now. By the time I make it over there, his leg will probably be healed by the miracle medicines of the Capitol. They could heal anyone. Anyone, especially... no, I am not going to think about that. Lover Boy is who I am thinking about right now. I know he has skill with a knife and is pretty strong, but I could easily take him alone. The problem is, he will not be alone.

Fire Girl is definitely competition if she's stayed alive this long. She knows how to feed herself or Lover Boy does because she didn't take much from the cornucopia. She also got an eleven, suggesting skill with weaponry. Probably a bow and arrow according to... no. That's my best guess. And she's obviously got it in her to kill because she dropped the nest on us and likely took out Marvel, Rue, or the boy from ten. She's not very big and I could easily beat her in close combat but she's got another advantage too. Lover Boy would die to save her life.

But while I think I know who Lover Boy and Fire Girl are, having encountered each of them already in the arena, the girl from five is a total mystery to me. I haven't seen her at all since the games began except for at the feast where I did learn she's a fast runner. But she only got a five in training and she's smaller than... no. Smaller than Fire Girl. The thing is, I don't know how she's been surviving. I didn't see her demonstrate any skill with a weapon, but she seemed to be acting pretty mysterious so that doesn't tell me anything. My best guess is she's been hiding out, surviving off the woods. I don't think she'll be much competition if I can get her in one place.

At that moment, the anthem begins to play over the thunder. Focused on avenging her, driven insane with anger and heartbreak, I haven't slept in two days. Just knowing this makes my eyelids feel heavy. I may as well rest, but without thoughts of my competition to distract me Clove wanders into my head. It is overwhelming, the thought that she is gone for good. It is the little things that hurt the most. She will never again lace her soft fingers through mine, or kiss me in the darkness of our tent. She will never again talk strategy with me like on the train, or wake up screaming for her brother. Jules, forgotten just like her. That is the problem with volunteering for the games. Everyone thinks you're just a bloodthirsty killer. And sometimes you are. When you die, nobody can feel bad for you because you signed up for this. But no, Clove never would have done this knowing she would meet me and we would get the false hope of knowing both of us could live and then have it torn away by a boy with a dead district partner and nothing to lose. She will not be remembered as anything more than a murderer, one who was killed because she was taunting her prey before she slaughtered it. There are only three people in the world I think will truly miss Clove as a person, and two of them are somewhere in district two and district eight and maybe didn't even love her that much anyway.

The future is also painful. All the things that could have been. I'll never get to mentor tributes with her - cheer them on and then comfort their grieving families when they die. I'll never get to take her up in the mountains that surround our district and pack a picnic and watch the sunlight filter through the clouds on a chilly spring day. I'll never get to tell her how nice that dress looks on her, or how that color really compliments her eyes. I'll never get to buy a ring, get down on one knee, and ask her to marry me. And maybe it never would have happened. She was so young. Maybe she would have found someone else. But now she never will. She is dead.

I can't help wondering for a second if I was ever the cause of such pain. Did any of the tributes I so thoughtlessly killed off have people that felt this way about them? I feel a momentary stab of guilt before I am once again caught up in Clove. How she always carried that smell of wood smoke from the fire we were caught in. The feel of her silky hair between my fingers. The tears are back now. I can't get her out of my head. I would to anything to bring her back. But there's nothing to do. For the first time since I was twelve, I cry myself to sleep.

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**Well, that was a bit of a depressing chapter. These next few aren't super eventful, just because that's the way it was written in the book, but after I finish I'll be able to start posting the sequel. Yes, there is a sequel. No, they don't come back from the dead. You'll see; it's a little complicated. Hope you enjoyed!**


	20. Chapter 20

**Disclaimer: I don't own the Hunger Games.**

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The first thing I register is pain. Thresh did more damage than I thought. Blood coats my skin in all of the places I was cut, but I can't bring myself to clean the wounds. Luckily, I protected my head and neck, so none of the injuries are life threatening. Unlike with her. What if I had been there to take the blow? It would have been worth it to save her. I was her ally. I was supposed to be watching her back. But instead I ran after the girl from five. I'll kill her, too.

The rain still pounds on outside. I eat some bread from the feast and spend the rest of the day watching drops fall on the tent. I'm not ready to go outside. I still don't know if I can face our camp. You think you can handle losing someone you love until literally everything brings them to mind and each time you do think of them it hurts more than any real wound ever could.

Shortly before the anthem, the rain stops so I begin the walk back to the lake. It's easier now, because I know what general direction I'm going in, so I let my feet walk the path. My mind could not be further away.

The lake is pretty much how we left it. Somebody has taken one of the sleeping bags, but I've got tons. I enter the tent and a tear trickles down my cheek because it's like she was just here. The sleeping bag still carries her scent. One of her silky hairs has fallen on a pillow. I can still feel her soft lips on mine. I get up, hating this awful world. Hating Thresh for taking her away. Hating the tears for making me look weak. Hating myself for not getting to her. And even hating Clove, hating Clove for leaving me here all alone. Eventually, I decide to go to sleep. I doubt the finale will be for a while.

I am startled awake by the cannon. It's midday and I'm starving. I'm pretty sure the cannon was for the district five girl, probably Fire Girl or Lover Boy's kill. He'll be recovered by now. I think I'll go hunting tomorrow. I eat a half loaf of bread and at one point see a stream of smoke in the distance. Probably trying to lure me in. I'm not going to fall for it.

I've got nothing to do, but I force myself not to think about Clove by trying to remember the exact order of the deaths so far. I get almost all of them, but the bloodbath I can't be quite sure of and I don't know who died first - Glimmer or Nixie, Marvel or Rue. When I've finished this, I run through the list of past hunger games victors in my head - names, which hunger games, and how they won. Back home, when I wasn't training, my time was spent obsessively studying the past games. I have a few favorites, and a lot of them are from lesser districts. It's never been my approach but I respect those who win on strategy rather than strength. Brute force is boring and nothing I'm not familiar with. It's the ones who could beat me I look up to.

Take Ada Lotus for example. I would never have told Nixie this, but she's actually one of the most interesting victors. I know I would have fallen victim to that trap. I let in the boy from three, for crying out loud. She at least could use a sword. Or Johanna Mason. I'm sure I would have completely overlooked her and focused on fiercer competitors if I were in her games. Plus, she was so pathetic I might have made the mistake of trying to kill her slowly which surely would have resulted in my death. That's always a fatal error...

Another favorite of mine is Heidi Fields of District ten. She was fourteen, but so short she looked like she was too young for the games. Using this to her advantage, she tracked those who were better fighters than she and begged them to let her live. And they did and after they had gotten a kill or two as her ally, she'd stab them in the back when they weren't looking. Then there's Icarus Ford. He's a district six victor and it just so happened he was a master of camouflage. He'd find a tribute's camp and then paint himself into the surroundings. Then of course, when they slept, they were dead meat. It also helped that he could climb okay, so even the lighter tributes were helpless. I was sad to hear he turned to morphing soon after his victory.

The only career tribute who makes the list is district one girl Sylk Damian. People think Cashmere and Gloss Geller are the only siblings who were back to back victors, but actually there were two sisters from their district who did the same thing. They're not well known, because they won the sixth and seventh hunger games and are long dead. Still, you can get the tapes of the games for cheap. Anyway, Sylk's sister Satyn went into the games. She was a fantastic archer and was even before the games started incredibly memorable. She had that classic district one wavy blonde hair and green eyes and played that up. So when Sylk was reaped and nobody volunteered, she went with it. The games were so new and the training centers had just been opened, so nobody thought to steal the glory from the sister of the newest victor. However, as Sylk moved through training and her interviews, everything was awfully familiar. The training score, the interview answers, even the chariot outfit. They say she bribed the stylist. Anyway, she was exactly identical to her sister in the way she preformed. So when she got to the games, everyone was expecting that to continue. The career alliance was poor that year, killed off by the district five tributes and then starvation. Sylk was the last one left of her pack and there were still six tributes to be killed. Then, out of nowhere, she dropped her bow and arrows and picked up a mace from the stockpile of weapons. Instead of being like her sister and waiting for the tributes to attack her, she hunted in the dead of night. I think she's actually the origin of that career tradition. Everyone assumed they would be exactly the same. When she hunted down the district three girl and killed her, becoming the victor, she straightened her hair and gave the cameras an awfully familiar winning smile. The thing about Sylk is it might not seem that big of a deal at first glance, but once you get down to it it's an amazingly good strategy. Of course, most tributes wouldn't get the chance to do this because of their lack of an identical sibling victor, but she had just the right skill with weaponry and opportunity to pull it off.

I spend the rest of the day sitting around and eating the last of my bread. I would be bored, except for the fact that I am still thinking about Clove. Being left alone with my thoughts is awful, so I change my mind and decide I will sleep now and, when I am woken by the anthem, look for Fire Girl, Lover Boy, and five. The tent is too warm, so I take one of the sleeping bags out and lie out in the open. I'm aware this is risky, but we're in the hunger games. Maybe it would be better to die anyway.

At the first notes of the anthem, my eyes pop open. The Capitol seal shines for a second and is replaced by the girl from five. I should have known Fire Girl and Lover Boy were still both alive. I can still win this. The trick is to take them by surprise. I know I could beat Lover Boy and, with the body armor, I might be able to get in close enough to Fire Girl before she realizes she's got to aim for my head.

I pack a bag full of food, two water bottles, and a first aid kit. I then set off alone in the woods. This is the first time I've been in here without a group. The trees seem to leer at me without the chatter and security numbers bring. I feel mutts are waiting in every shadow, Fire Girl poised to shoot me on every branch. Still, I keep going. A career isn't stopped by a thing like the dark.

I search all night, but there's no sign of Fire Girl and Lover Boy. I do find the shell of the tracker jacker nest we had dropped on us and, in a little clearing, a small pile of wildflowers I can't make sense of. I keep waiting to get snuck up on, but the only living creatures around are black and white birds that perch in some of the trees. At dawn, I find a dried out stream bed. I saw this stream when I was hunting before, but they must have drained it to draw us to the lake. Fire Girl and Lover Boy are probably hiding somewhere near there. Still, I should get some rest before I do anything.

After twenty minutes, I find a small cave and rest my head on the backpack. It's not comfortable, but the heat of the new day keeps me relatively warm. I don't think they could find me here, and I doubt they're looking anyway. We will fight when the gamemakers want us to and probably no sooner than that.

I wake up at what appears to be about noon. I'm starving, so I finish off my food, but even that doesn't satisfy me. I wish I'd gone to edible plants now. No matter. I doubt the games will last much longer anyway.

I follow the stream for several hours and I think I'm getting closer. I see a few bloodstains on rocks and eventually come upon a cave like the one I rested in. Nobody seems to be nearby, but there are signs of Fire Girl and Lover Boy. A silver parachute in the bushes outside. A rotting apple core in the corner. More bloodstains on the floor. They were here, and recently, but they must have left after the stream dried up. My best bet now is probably to go back to the lake. The glow of the sun is just touching the horizon and I decide to set off towards it, knowing the lake is this way. I have just gathered up my belongings when I hear the howl.

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**A bit of a cliffhanger (though I'm sure everyone already knows what's going to happen). The next chapter is the last one, and then I'll be able to start posting the sequel. I doubt I'll be able to post every day, since I need to do a lot more editing than on this one, but I'll try to keep it pretty frequent. Hope you enjoyed!**


	21. Chapter 21

**Disclaimer: I don't own the hunger games. **

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My head whips around, looking for the source of the noise. It's coming from somewhere behind me. These are mutts, I know it, but I don't know what kind. Since I can't see them yet, I start walking in the direction of the sun as planned. Part of me still just wants to curl up on the ground and die, but I made a promise. Clove wanted me to live so I will live. It's that simple.

I make it about five minutes into the woods when I hear footsteps. Multiple sets. More than if Fire Girl and Lover Boy were running at me. I keep walking, wanting to ignore the sound, when a creature barrels out from behind the tree next to me. It's a mutt, canine in appearance, with five inch claws and sharp teeth. I am frozen for a second, watching the strong muscles ripple in its legs as it launches itself at me, before I'm sprinting. In my peripheral vision, I see the rest of the pack following the point mutt. I can outrun them, but only just. They are so close I can hear their breaths.

My chest burns and sweat is beginning to run down my face. I am pure adrenaline. I would give anything for a time-out, just a chance to catch my breath or get a drink. I try to think if there is any way to get a break. The only thing that crosses my mind is to climb a tree, which is impossible given my weight. I would need something sturdy. It hits me. The cornucopia. That's the only place in the arena I could possibly run to safely. Fire Girl and Lover Boy are probably waiting for me there, or else being driven by another mutt pack, but I can't worry about that now. I try to think how long it will take me to get there. Getting to the stream took all night, but I was wandering around. The mutts are probably driving me to the center of the arena anyway. It would make sense. If the danger remains imminent I think I can keep up this pace for a good hour before my muscles literally give out.

What seems about a day, but is probably more like thirty minutes, later, I burst out onto the area of hard-packed dirt surrounding the cornucopia. Fire Girl and Lover Boy are by the lake, but I can't think about that now. Fire Girl's arrow bounces off my chest, straight on target for my heart but stopped by the body armor. I can see her expression morph from triumph to confusion to fear as she realizes the situation.

"He's got some kind of body armor," she says.

Soon Fire Girl is following right on my heels, obviously knowing that the cornucopia is the safest place now. Her ally is a few yards behind her, limping along on his injured leg.

I make it to the cornucopia and begin to climb, hands scorched by the metal. My hands find ridges in the gold and I collapse onto the metal, my jacket protecting most of my body from the heat. I know that Fire Girl and Lover Boy could kill me, but I don't think they will until they're escaped the mutts. I allow myself a few minutes to wipe my burning face and let my breaths slow. It feels as if they never will.

Fire Girl climbs onto the horn. She draws back an arrow and I weakly throw up my hands, but she's aiming at one of the wolfs that's got hold of Lover Boy's leg. She drags him up on the horn. The mutts are jumping at us.

"Can they climb it?" I get out.

"What?" asks Fire Girl and I hear my question repeated to her. I don't hear the answer, but it doesn't seem like it. They just want to confine us, not kill us off themselves. I can feel my breaths getting steadier when Fire Girl gasps.

"It's them!"

"Who? What is it, Katniss?" Lover Boy asks.

"It's them," she says. "It's all of them. Rue and Foxface and all of the other tributes." I look down. She's right. I see them, all of them. The brown-haired green-eyed one that is Marvel jumps for Lover Boy's leg. Nixie's wavy dirty blonde hair and sea green eyes can be found at the tail of the cornucopia. The dead body of the Glimmer mutt, taken down by an arrow, lies on the ground, emerald eyes and platinum blonde hair glistening in the light of the sunset. And her. Silky ebony hair. Dark brown eyes that seem to shine. Small in stature and beautiful, even in this horrific form. Clove.

I feel sick but I remember my promise to her. This is not her. This is just meant to scare me. My breathing is almost normal now and I know I'll have to think of what to do. My only weapon is Clove's knife in my jacket. I dropped my sword and pack without knowing it as I ran through the woods. I could go for Fire Girl, but Lover Boy is pretty strong and might kill me, especially if she died. I could probably kill Lover Boy, but I know I'd get an arrow in my skull in the process. The only thing I can think of is to grab him and suffocate him, leaving Fire Girl unable to shoot me if she wants him to live. We'd both go down to the mutts. And then maybe I could use his body to shield myself and knock her aside and win.

Checking that Fire Girl's back is turned, I get up and swiftly yank Lover Boy from her side. We grapple for a few seconds and I can feel his strength against mine but I am the superior fighter. I get a choke hold on him and stare Fire Girl straight in the face. She draws back her bow, pointing for my head, but doesn't shoot. She must know what would happen, but I have to make sure.

"Shoot me and he goes down too," I tell her. I can tell she's torn. Obviously she wants to win, but she can hardly kill her little Lover Boy in the process. Looking at his face, I see his lips are turning blue. But instead of trying to free himself from my grasp, his hand finds the pool of blood stemming from his leg. It goes up and he marks something on my hand. An X. What does it mean? I realize one second too late as Fire Girl releases her arrow on target for my hand.

I try to brace myself for the impact, but my reflexes kick in and I let him go. I am so stupid. I should have worn those gloves. What was I thinking, anyway, when I neglected to guard my hands. Oh, right. _A hit to the hand is never fatal. _Well, it's about to be. I grab Lover Boy's arm, determined that Fire Girl can't have her way, but she pulls him up and my momentum carries me off the horn. I land on my back, all the air knocked from my lungs.

I lay there for a few desperate seconds, trying to fend off the bites of the mutts, before I get up and pull Clove's knife from my coat. They are incredibly strong and take a dozen hits each to kill but I think I have a chance at first. I take down five of them. The girl from eight, Nixie, Rue, the boy from six, and the girl from five Fire Girl called Foxface. But they are hurting me much more than I am hurting them. The body armor protects me somewhat, but my ankles, hands, and head are vulnerable. I am almost to the tail of the cornucopia, hoping I can climb up and take out the others and escape the mutts when it happens. One of them lunges at me. I send the knife at its throat but then I see it. It's her. Clove. I hesitate for a split second. What if some part of her is still in there? It's just enough for the one that looks like the boy from three to knock me down. This time I can't get up.

The remaining muttations drag me into the cornucopia, biting and clawing. I thought I knew pain before this, but this is unimaginable agony multiplied by fifty. It goes on for hours. The constant tearing at my flesh. I hate the body armor now, because I have no doubt death would be preferable to this. The worst part though, is that Clove attacks just as fiercely as the rest. Is this just because the Capitol made her do this? Or does she really hate me? Is she angry I broke my promise to win? Would she still want me to keep going?

A layer of dried blood coats my skin and each time there is a fresh wound, the new sticky stuff seeps though. I was okay with blood before this. I was okay with mutts and pain and death. Everything seems fine until it is happening to you. The torture seems timeless, but eventually I think I see the rays of the sun poking over the tree line. I am moaning. I didn't even realize until now. I see another thing though, something that gives me a little bit of hope. Fire Girl is looking over the side of the cornucopia holding a bow with a loaded arrow. I wish I could speak clearly. I wish I could say how much I love Clove, or how sorry I am to my family that I thought this was a good idea. Any last words that would somehow make what I did in the games better, or at least maintain some part of who I was as a person. What I do say is what I before would have considered beyond pathetic.

"Please."

As if in slow motion, I see her draw back the bowstring and release the arrow. Fire Girl, I hope your love story ends in a happily ever after if mine couldn't. You better be good to each other, because the real star-crossed lovers of these games are both leaving in coffins. Make up for that, please. And Clove, I did try to win. I really did. I hope you didn't wish me dead like that mutt did. I hope you did love me as much as I loved you and didn't just think of me as someone to play with before you eventually would have killed me. I think you did, because I heard the desperation in your voice when you called my name at the feast. I'm so sorry I couldn't save you. I'm coming for you now.

* * *

**And so concludes Cato's epic journey through the games. For anyone who missed the messages earlier, I do have plans for a sequel. However, my original draft kind of sucks, so I'll have to edit quite a bit. The first chapter will probably go up this weekend. Hope you enjoyed!**


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